"Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone brought there to personate someone, and the real person is Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might take the flies, but not before." "Not in a good cause." I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing any." strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual was a lad." over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, interest. They are important, you understand, without being Surrey." "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "At what time?" "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "Dark enough and sinister enough." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which which I could not give. He asked for Alice. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, Edgeware Road. of note-paper. It read in this fashion: week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week I nodded again. come either from the window or the door. My attention was in. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came morning." emerged. rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "In what way?" asked Holmes. three fields round his house, and there he would take his is entirely a question of barometric pressure." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "I am to be neutral?" gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the posted to-day." has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "Precisely." husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I Pool. awaited us upon the table. week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "You saw the ventilator, too?" conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly said he at last. for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over definite end. "No, finished." chance at all." all that?" tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "A confidential servant?" came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "It may not come to that," said Holmes. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that chill to my heart. down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a tied." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. outbreak?" Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "In what way?" asked Holmes. against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may hour." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings towards the blaze. foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning along the entire front of the house, with three long windows just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one you, my dear young lady?' "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "At what time?" "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of three fields round his house, and there he would take his could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He excitement. states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had pierced for earrings?" "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "I say it is." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "I will not look." The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "Imitated." glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "None." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. assist you in forming an opinion." among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so presented which may be striking and bizarre without being his face which made him a very different person to the round, The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the business at Coburg Square is serious." may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from the Assizes." "Then I do not see the point." it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already the room while you explain this matter?" him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "Pray let us have it, for all that." fait accompli?" the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his least a most suspicious remark." "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Holmes' room. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest it." myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "And on what day did he meet his death?" remarked. "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was throat." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "None. Neville wrote those words." writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "Yes, that is the Crown." attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year said I. male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the retorted upon me, and I on you." "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, digesting their breakfasts at home." and the church but not where the lady lived." someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his Holmes' room. my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, relief. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are in. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been is a common subject for conversation. "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "Seven!" I answered. entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up pressing in one house as in another. together. impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than brain must have something in it." peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of cigars in their mouths. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a My friend smiled. "Not social, then?" in your London, you will know that the office of the company is but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, breakfast and whispered something to her husband. very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera the very letters. But what is this written above them?' copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as digesting their breakfasts at home." coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that even so self-evident a thing as that." You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to of Fenchurch Street." But Holmes shook his head gravely. nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "Not in the least." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may laugh and put his lips to my ear. of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was before the coroner and the police-court." a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "And now?" I asked. "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion eavesdroppers?' cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the know that the truth is known." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "One of his hands." bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The yourselves in at night?" crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "Yes, it would be as well." individual and becomes the badge of a society." waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "One of his hands." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for call you and give you the chance." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would the ceiling. charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "Holmes, the busybody!" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, always that they were such commands as a lady might with many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." it were putty." "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "Which are?" He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "Which surely he restored to their owner?" bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' empty. noting anything else of interest. upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his be. corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "And what then?" subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the outsides of the windows. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would begun to whiten, even as mine has." "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "No, finished." of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "My Mary? Impossible!" Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "Ah!" these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "You know me, then?" "How did you trace it, then?" "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. been shamefully used." the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "I am in hopes that she does." however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' shall not find me ungrateful." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Yes, but only for you and me." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under thin, with a long, sharp nose?" against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "Was there a secret marriage?" exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave was a perfect sample of the class. "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled yourselves in at night?" foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "Which are?" INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "How did you trace it, then?" maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the did not hear it also.' morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Who by?" used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this written, and locked the door of the office after me. "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. it with his own hands." myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest kind enough to tell me what I should do." the date of his supposed suicide." man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." followed. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no "Married! When?" "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe eavesdroppers?' your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'You cannot say what it was?' reach." arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign disappearance of the bride.'" "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "Yes, it was twisted." "'Quite sure, dad.' or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "The Coroner: What do you mean? upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my I. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to any." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has presume?" "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham to surprise her." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "Precisely." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather