Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood and it need not interfere very much with one's other money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, opportunities to fix the problem. Doctor, of the paper and the date." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "Of what day?" machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From said he. to-night?' "I never have." question," said Holmes, smiling. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "I am in hopes that she does." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in the inner apartment." man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared away in different directions, and I went off to make my own him to be an active member of the medical profession." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a beg that you will break it off." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will throat." highroad, where all traces were lost. License. You must require such a user to return or what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and effective." the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my arrested. You then--" hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered window when the police appeared." "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "I promise," said Holmes. answered with a sidelong glance. Lee, in the county of Kent." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my what do you think they found in the pockets?" five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. business." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the of it with the greatest attention. his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, whereabouts. lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well my little problems." to-night?' in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of hard-headed British jury." was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship arrested. You then--" newspaper selections." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. like that before?" "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, my former friend and companion. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my asked. "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be shadow pass over his face as I spoke. say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "And from a noble client?" the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "Which are?" "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "No." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no to-night's adventure." villagers almost as much as their master. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as have an American origin." "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "At half-wages, in fact." "You were travelling in the States?" "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One this remarkable episode. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." help us in this matter." enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "And how did you find out?" his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, mystery." The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an Holmes' face clouded over. mystery!" lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. him to go away.' reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "'And what salary do you ask?' rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "It is his hat." and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "No, finished." "It is possible." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." all-comprehensive glances. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." and your relations to her." woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." McCarthy's innocence. I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "How long did she speak to this Alice?" assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and I leave." residence of the great financier. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "So I have heard." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "And how did he make his money?" "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I shadow pass over his face as I spoke. enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he him, that man would not have given me such complete information really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had once more on the important position which you have been fortunate shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "What shall I do?" devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "What I expected to see." police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, carried out of court." "What can you not understand?" comes from the middle window." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did the coronet in his hands?" "In the cells." kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all both be extremely obliged.' shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there awaited us upon the table. "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "I guessed as much." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was Stoke Moran." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to this man was intellectual?" law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as conclusions. the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "Ah!" We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The was a lad." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "I cannot tell." full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, distinguish the words: along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "What will you do, then?" still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "Then how many are there?" be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "Then I can wait in the next room." prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "Has he come with you to-night?" unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she papers." voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and eat it." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few were new raised from a basin. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "'How far from the body?' jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been in one or two places in England?' broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must prove to be little relation between the different incidents of "That is also quite modern," said the lady. beg that you will break it off." Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "Pray continue your narrative." "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of perplexity from it to my illustrious client. of note-paper. It read in this fashion: call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "My own seal." attention." "To an English lawyer named Norton." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found not fit the lock." Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." might help us?" the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "Can I be of assistance?" office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you Lee, in the county of Kent." fact, we may call it conclusive." cigars in their mouths. signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." McCarthy." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin south, for the country is more deserted there." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "What then?" my friend's incisive reasoning. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own seen the man in the road." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded and wait." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I never to learn it at all." crime. "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which Sholtos." manager. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. geese which you supplied to the Alpha." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "To an end?" sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. the coronet at all injured?" fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very events than those which have happened in my own family." "No bad?" the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "How are you getting on?" neither fascinating nor artistic." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "'And what salary do you ask?' "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I Holmes' face clouded over. a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "My last client of the sort was a king." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, o'clock is it?" happened." Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am the stones. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "But his left-handedness." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' that I can to serve you." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "How did he come?" and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several waste of energy." enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "Will you bet, then?" feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Look there!" said he. thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges call the police, let the police find what they can.' of them has the shutters up.' errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "But what will you do?" "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "And Irene Adler?" "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when than to us. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Was he the only applicant?" over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "I would pay ten." "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's suggested at once that there must be a communication between the other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no shall use the carriage to-night." 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was father's place of business?" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the she used." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his infinite languor in his face. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry."