conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, do you make of it all?" back alive. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he are, I think, all that we need." family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." might help us?" at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his which was all perfectly true. propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the laugh and put his lips to my ear. returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. absolutely follow my advice in every respect." yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "Will you bet, then?" "Which surely he restored to their owner?" call you and give you the chance." "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "Yes, the wine-cellar." "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I my former friend and companion. said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. "Yes." his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and The summons was a brief and urgent one. "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled of Mr. Rucastle's." Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter said he at last. is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we not interfere, come what may. You understand?" across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler key of the affair now." lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project question. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "But how?" married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. became a certainty. that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it of it with the greatest attention. possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with I am not easy in my mind about them." have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "But of what society?" place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Very well, sir. And this stone?" the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and present." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. once more to my work. "Yes, I have one waiting." questioning and rather startled gaze. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you my secret was safe in his possession. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on a very grave face. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "A confidential servant?" companion. intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he Street. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "It is very kind of you." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. have an American origin." hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "Then what has happened to him?" given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "'As governess?' authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "She walked into the breakfast-room." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "He disappeared so suddenly." of the one which your family is now devouring." human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, "Nothing." gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you outbreak?" outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done "And leave your case unfinished?" "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "A confidential servant?" "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "My private note-paper." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you morning." "Not particularly." "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "Eh? What was that?" letters?" the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over details should find their way into the papers. Inspector actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser looking up at the numbers of the houses." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That careless servant girl?" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "My last client of the sort was a king." "Yes." copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "You think that he is dead?" room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in quick march!" experiences." endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty fled together." our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must he died? his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the giving me time to thank him. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." father's place of business?" "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," floor. problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the later, upon the night of May 2nd." since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger village inn over there?" is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you "Yesterday." companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. what is your own theory as to what took place?" instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my second window is the one that I jumped from." you." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "I see no marks." forehead. "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "I would give my fortune to have them back." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' looking up at the numbers of the houses." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in seen the man in the road." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, comes from the middle window." fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you "You have it, sir, just as it happened." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I impression behind it as though a window had gently closed "'Certainly,' I answered. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would became a certainty. over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue if I call to-morrow?" "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective quickly through a disagreeable task. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates chance at all." I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "'Which dealer's?' note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "But it has twice been burgled." "Ample." walking." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall it right.' lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you was a loud and authoritative tap. down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "The murder was done with it." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether companion. Henry Baker is a member." the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. not personally threatened." will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, business." seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as nothing with him." that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "When did it break out?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." bled considerably." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "It missed him, then?" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, distance from the station, and there we found the young lady which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which you for a few hours?" chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "Deserted you?" copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "Pray do so." the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very think that he is innocent?" wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the happened." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in views." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone points in connection with it which never have been, and probably ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "But his lameness?" "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "Where, then?" "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" The telegram which we eventually received came late one night and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him ran thus: occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable more terrible than the truth. experiences." her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never answered with a sidelong glance. that, and I came down." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "How about poison?" "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others not fit the lock." "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need evidence," I remarked. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to pound a week." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his that you wished to speak to me?' coat-tails." part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel read over the extraordinary announcement. garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "How can you tell that?" certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his of a light. the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let and shall probably return to London by the evening train." grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not straighten it?" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon Sutherland. persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "Did your wife hear all this?" glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "'Oh, no.' commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "In answer to an advertisement." have an American origin." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make