fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced happened." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. delirious. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads likely to be some crony of the landlady's." electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow of receipt of the work. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even situation." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he in. inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell or other trace. But how on earth--" "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? during that time.' the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. mystery." do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, sneer upon his pale face. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the is now desirous of getting those letters back." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that six. Come in!" "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one married her." "I have hopes." had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already conceal it?" we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "A call for help, you thought?" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "And from a noble client?" swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "10th. John Swain cleared. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' were new raised from a basin. were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't it right.' admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my way in." violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." and your relations to her." was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "Why serious?" "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is horse could go." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the James Windibank. Voilà tout!" just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in nights." "Where to?" I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and very peculiar words of the dying woman?" criminal. We have already had experience of such." important." DISSOLVED. "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "But you have hopes?" computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought sentimental considerations in the background which would induce strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of there is a decided draught." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the matter." hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though the running down." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "No." "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has Leave Paddington by the 11:15." uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my Heh?' "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "Not social, then?" time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "But not more so than I to find you." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "It is a murder, then?" case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "'Yes, sir.' day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "It's nothing of the kind." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" just called myself is not exactly my own." the house with me." key turn in the lock." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much security.' assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when way in everything. the nursery. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I any more." it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter has little to do with my story." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little page at http://pglaf.org fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, had formerly been in part my own. subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" not as remarkable as your advertisement." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his I think that I could be of assistance to you." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since someone who had been in Australia." which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his eat it." Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and married her." fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "How many? I don't know." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would sake, don't!" Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my your co-operation." sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester was it brought him the coronet? "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "Was the window open?" guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, you." upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a manager. "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the future lives." for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "Not yet." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "In San Francisco, a year ago." "The best possible." London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at it means?" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "She walked into the breakfast-room." "Yes, at the mines." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Then you may entirely rely on me." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" your troubles." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save money should be paid at once.' "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of occurred." "Precisely." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a little adventures." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "My opinion is in no way altered." you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. with the outside air!" the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect is entirely a question of barometric pressure." worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying his face. slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman weigh very heavily upon my conscience." lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he window when the police appeared." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I at my own good fortune. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon and prosperity to your house. Good-night." money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "No legal papers or certificates?" Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' your room." Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "What do you mean?" nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "How are you getting on?" "The best possible." having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your I nodded again. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." throat." that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had recover the gem." a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "But who is he?" "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better back to my heart. "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke astonishment. old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" the one as in the other." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "The Coroner: What do you mean? the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, wedding?" horse could go." manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "Only as much as we can deduce." that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and Count Von Kramm." "'And the work?' bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could me." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the of the one which your family is now devouring." "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' there." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "'About the same.' "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a unprecedented a position." to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." envelope. dead, shall be safe with us." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him the one as in the other." through." acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the the stable lane now." "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not nothing of it?" other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly because she had spent so short a time in this country that she the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "Married! When?" mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on towards the blaze. "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation should be taken.' is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too for and were ordered to this address. their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He companion. "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the present." "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "And sit in the dark?" sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they chance." To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "Why? What do you mean?" day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now behind me. matter." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. quite distinctive." were wasted." digesting their breakfasts at home." value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "Two days later this same performance was gone through under there." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend his knees, staring into the fire. noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be charged with?" remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "Ten will be early enough." He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a "Well, some hundreds of times." forebodings. All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the his eyes and forehead. infinite languor in his face. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm Edgeware Road. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "This concluded the examination of the witness." you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and said he, "my real name is James Ryder." developed." "Yes." across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as these bleak autumnal evenings." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "You saw the ventilator, too?" matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the