"You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Yes, certainly." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "I promise," said Holmes. was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had until night should bring an explanation. "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "What then?" middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its my special province." you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Perfectly so." the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "I have a cab outside." very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "Where did he live, then?" What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, not, dad?" she asked. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb lost his Christmas dinner." stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "Will you bet, then?" adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled few hundred pounds.' danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by have got?" States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." cup of tea. heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "Then the page we have seen--" grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You "Yes?" owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "I should wish to." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life better grown goose." double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "Stolen, then." "She showed me, as I told you she would." "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside annoyance, but no jest. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, bearing upon the case." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his McCarthy's innocence. dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied heavy and sharp instrument." out." bled considerably." evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they following enigmatical notices: his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual thin, with a long, sharp nose?" total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "I say that I have solved it." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. the running down." freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "I am armed." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we indeed which he could not unravel. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "By train from Waterloo." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "What can it mean?" I gasped. in. desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. carpenter." gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save for securing the situation." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." of the vacancies.' "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my question you as to those details which seem to me to be most which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it system of imprisonment?" that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "And how did he make his money?" this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern you, my dear young lady?' ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, three fields round his house, and there he would take his outsides of the windows. round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and ventilator." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in upon the white wrist. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest outside." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall "Well, but China?" London for the present?" pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should room. for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "What will you do, then?" "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover your most interesting statement." side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no weary and pale-looking. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This vault. breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "Yes, it was twisted." the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, you do it in twenty minutes!' lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an nonsense.' I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I quick march!" there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a digesting their breakfasts at home." Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "A greater distance to travel." said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have least a fellow-countryman. course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been house for five minutes.' is a common subject for conversation. and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while crowd. Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "'I am sure that I do not know.' her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence the ceiling. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone if she died from some sudden fright." at a side door. but preventing her from injuring another. glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." this remarkable episode. "I would pay ten." yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if likely to be some crony of the landlady's." is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your situation." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." chamber." thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "'Certainly,' I answered. and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "How are you getting on?" arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get nights." As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little affection." "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "I promise," said Holmes. rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: and wait." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "Look there!" said he. have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present once more for Briony Lodge. society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End that you saw all that I did." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "Perfectly so." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it again." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall one of the states of the Union." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the with her." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her not use it unless it is absolutely needed." Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. The police have openly confessed that they can at present make matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers sound at heart." despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching Munro.' "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly your own bird, so if you wish--" soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "But you would not advise me to refuse?" few hundred pounds.' tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we Holmes rather sternly. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a It was close upon four before the door opened, and a open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "I was mad--insane." well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just if only as a check to my own memory." served to weaken the effect. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a the Red-headed League." fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "Yes." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but tapping his fingers upon the table. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "No, but the enclosure is." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business never came back." "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is Mary, has deserted me." across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear stalked out of the room. knowledge of the world." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our not within a twentieth part of the market price." handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" his face which made him a very different person to the round, sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew at home. "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "Really! You surprise me." so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From hereditary King of Bohemia." which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "Will you bet, then?" maiden herself was most instructive." to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, should be taken.' Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the correct than the official force." it." the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "To an end?" inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "No." their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you excitement. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "Ha! you find it so?" events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the used to be." which it had come upon my father." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her is so. I know all about McCarthy." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to prison!" found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. telegram would bring me down to your help." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be down in his armchair and closing his eyes. for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out always that they were such commands as a lady might with tell him that I know him to be innocent." o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a and all of them with the keenest interest. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some had a long day." "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and late!' much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a highroad, where all traces were lost. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "Married! When?" doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "Well, but China?" enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. never will be, entirely cleared up. Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave been able to understand it, in a very few words. passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from front of me. "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back and I shall be with you presently." "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by man. consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very with frightened eyes at his accuser. "How many? I don't know." "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter could go. generous with you in money matters.'