building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until My friend smiled. my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand anything to do with the matter?" said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a Young McCarthy must be got off, however." did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you "None." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by pierced for earrings?" beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from window when the police appeared." man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "To an end?" chamber." "Witness: Nothing definite. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the good for you to do.' had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "The Coroner: What do you mean? "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge meant." Countess of Morcar's?" within hail.' inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he was a loud and authoritative tap. either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "'What, the red-headed man?' all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the to me. freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see http://www.gutenberg.net "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "An accident, I presume?" way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "You have carte blanche." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "And what then?" however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should bonnet, and went out." "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "Of what?" "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "VIOLET HUNTER." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now instituted." "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of danger is over." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over means taking possession of that which another person has a prior John Swain, of St. Augustine. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "No." must compliment you." "Then I can wait in the next room." the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the It was close upon four before the door opened, and a had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "Dirty?" front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "Won't it ring?" her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned upon an income of about 60 pounds." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "But I am all in the dark." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and this man was intellectual?" distance from the station, and there we found the young lady hands. and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in forbidden door. about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "Then how many are there?" burst out into a roar of laughter. "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of footfalls from the street. male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "'Very good.' him to go away.' there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become my special province." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst never will be, entirely cleared up. God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the even of instruction." with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "No, I think that I'll take it." he. possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but death." direction." son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is not within a twentieth part of the market price." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman of receipt of the work. "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it into her hand at the door and which lured her within their eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I there was no need for father to know." I nodded to show that I had heard. you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed noble correspondent could be. struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than morning." for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I again." to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. to-night." downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." weighed down with some great anxiety. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in I took the paper from him and read as follows: works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "Dark enough and sinister enough." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in have not had my rubber." "On the contrary, this is the right side." my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and Lestrade of Scotland Yard." Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. records." slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us away in different directions, and I went off to make my own including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "'Yes, sir.' There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, in darkness. the window, rose as we entered. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "To ruin me." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the that he will be back before evening." "No, distinctly professional." have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of fatally injured? gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. a suggestive one." jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just had formerly been in part my own. said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like is," said he presently: second window is the one that I jumped from." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." which it had come upon my father." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At Lestrade of Scotland Yard." my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, the armchair which I pushed forward for him. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this particular state visit http://pglaf.org morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "A call for help, you thought?" relief. door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It are, and they are waiting for us." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one already been minutely examined." to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to minor matters until to-morrow." On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could answered with a sidelong glance. "I answered that I had not. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he kindly on the shoulder. page at http://pglaf.org stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "Deserted you?" go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "'Which dealer's?' had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "What is it, then--a fire?" invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "'No, I know no one in these parts.' upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. begun to whiten, even as mine has." river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which really the only notable feature about the thing." "The Cedars?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. not interfere, come what may. You understand?" ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "10th. John Swain cleared. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "I cannot think." the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to what I may call a really hard day's work." very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the second." Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that was used.' whereabouts. "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "Won't it ring?" that you can jump it.' neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook upon the shelf for the interim." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "On your arm?" Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "What then?" but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he thirty. I think that I could be of assistance to you." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had did not hear it also.' the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "You don't mind breaking the law?" on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "You think that he is dead?" "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and peculiar to him. been shamefully used." upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "'Very good.' "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately felt?" glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried were unconscious?" "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any imbecility!" he cried. misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon investigation." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "No, I think that I'll take it." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed about. or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there which we had just quitted. the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very and wait." while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "Can I be of assistance?" remarked. whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Of Friday, June 19th." "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, which was all perfectly true. "Yes, sir." really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed deduce something from that?" "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from had formerly been in part my own. at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "Yes?" "To an English lawyer named Norton." "What I expected to see." He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "I will try. What is it?" less than 26s. 4d. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A Foundation "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more read over the extraordinary announcement. with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." companion. dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet happened." "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "He is still with you, I presume?" woman." "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I James Windibank. Voilà tout!" constraint." strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle