"Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at just ask you whether you had heard it.' recover the gem." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end lamp. "It is true that I have been generally successful." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always the very letters. But what is this written above them?' home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife morning." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "It is true that I have been generally successful." Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these flock.' places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into signal between you and your father? if only as a check to my own memory." Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." 1.E.9. approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was front of me. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has plantation.' Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "But how will you look?" difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different Young McCarthy must be got off, however." of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt golden eyeglasses. prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were upon the white wrist. Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a colour had been driven from his face. "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "No, my brougham is waiting." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." page at http://pglaf.org who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "Then you may entirely rely on me." sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." on re-entering her father's house?" "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this The King stared at him in amazement. constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a said he. at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "I assure you that I am in your hands." "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "Your sister is dead, then?" to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be thirty. "How did you deduce the select?" and effective." lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his opened a pocket-book and took out a note. observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen the address that was given us in the advertisement. and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my future lives." The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and his wife has ceased to love him." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very which should have the effect of calling the attention of the aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate prisoner's face. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger companion quietly. read over the extraordinary announcement. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I companion imperturbably. "Certainly." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias weighed down with some great anxiety. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." kind enough to tell me what I should do." was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the night.' said he. outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until front of the hall door has given its name to the place. some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "Perhaps I have." Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you notes," he said. on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "And on what day did he meet his death?" "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to them?" very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came "My dear Holmes!" morning." London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square wife's character?" "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of hands. fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "No good news?" I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "I promise," said Holmes. am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "But not more so than I to find you." undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "I am about to be married." any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found which it had come upon my father." "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is nothing with him." obstinate." arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late our word." door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the interested in these little problems, and since you are good possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, question you as to those details which seem to me to be most say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was head. So long, then!" "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "But how?" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back beyond words. I took the paper from him and read as follows: ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the the inquest, and which are worth considering." words came to my lips. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "You know me, then?" heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "If so, much may have happened between." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but I. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "Proceed, then." "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Yes, only one." "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." the child." I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious The King stared at him in amazement. address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. "But his lameness?" about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' You want to know what became of those geese?" "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase over his head with a sweet womanly caress. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at man. "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "That is also quite modern," said the lady. to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "You don't mind breaking the law?" "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, never came back." stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all about here speaks of his kindness to him." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A bore every mark of being an average commonplace British compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "And help." "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the I shall continue with my miserable story. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set of Fenchurch Street." pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "'I have heard so.' know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, my room." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." green of the new foliage. the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to 1.F. at home. he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' see me here to avoid scandal." however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love it. baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a DAMAGE. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "How did he come?" cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "The knees of his trousers." trifles." elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "My own seal." fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "But of what society?" latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the written, and locked the door of the office after me. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "Because he was handy and would come cheap." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." not, dad?" she asked. the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if fish-monger and a tide-waiter." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "In what way?" asked Holmes. "Pray do so." is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "Yes, certainly." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" open." myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and like that before?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out tell him that I know him to be innocent." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "They are typewritten," I remarked. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. possible that we could bring him back to her? rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "He is dead," cried several voices. whether it answered to the description of any of their "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called in him." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last Henry Baker is a member." "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on whereabouts. Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "Precisely so. But how--" "'About the same.' is a common subject for conversation. trifles." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "The murder was done with it." hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "Your presence might be invaluable." carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the matter over." showing my impatience. cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "Yes." "Your sister is dead, then?" the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend this unhappy family?" dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases imbecility!" he cried. upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "And why?" train.' have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he several quiet little villages up there." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At even so self-evident a thing as that." abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "'Not at all. I only doubt--' I nodded to show that I had heard. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird "So it appears." once more. a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was lamp. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical "Was there a secret marriage?" guilty one." and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" sit on the left-hand side of the driver." wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "Certainly." sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed.