"'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "My Mary? Impossible!" particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "But how did you gain them?" believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly presume?" "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. without a word or a look. the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I is worth.' "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point the tragedy. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase tear off another piece?' "And how did he make his money?" feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as away to you." "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "Texas, I think." Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "'I have already given you my word.' not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was place of silver." "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. furiously. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "'Yes.' "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "What will you say?" "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. you." result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "Bought." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "But he might be a bachelor." he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong indiscretion." too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could singular points about the case. What did the police think of the tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' province." inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "'A dozen yards or so.' address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." until night should bring an explanation. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. hard-headed British jury." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some questionable one." Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and charged with?" the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "There is the writing." there in twenty minutes." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two frequently gained my first real insight into the character of It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and reach." The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here cigars in the box." "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. hands. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' make me his representative both with the servants and with the her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual front of me. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my upon the sideboard." "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that was not a bird to be seen there. hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "One of his hands." down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "In answer to an advertisement." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "What!" he roared. dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "ARAT," I read. "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of out of this horrible affair." "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it compunction about shooting them down." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his lamp in his hand. he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your Mrs. Toller serenely. protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an despaired of." America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then maiden herself was most instructive." my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the Holmes. north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "That is unusual in a young girl." "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass upon the sideboard." us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "Texas, I think." a monotonous occupation." "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when the Red-headed League." firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a letters?" fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A eavesdroppers?' about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "I am sure." "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "Nothing?" paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "But of what society?" son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, fait accompli?" return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any stepfather?" predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "By no means." a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and you?' "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "Not him." "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "I cannot tell." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. him!" We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "What is it, then--a fire?" The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting hand, madam?" in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "Pray do so." telegram would bring me down to your help." started for the Temple to see my husband. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go "'I am sure if I had known--' rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "I never have." "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "You'll never persuade me to believe that." him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private death." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "I came to find a friend." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just affection." "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, "Then, as to money?" through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very answer." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was off." "One of his hands." keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "To an end?" "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace other, as fresh and trim as possible. individual and becomes the badge of a society." "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "'A dozen yards or so.' something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "Yes, that is the Crown." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should he bowed and left the room without another word. The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and knowledge of the world." "Then, how do you know?" luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which death." secret." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my developed." rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "Certainly." the so-precious time, but come!' fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his three fields round his house, and there he would take his married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for Mary, has deserted me." sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. comes from the middle window." have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and Eyford at 11:15.' the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "And the cigar-holder?" Again Holmes raved in the air. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn help us in this matter." neither fascinating nor artistic." "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this started for the Temple to see my husband. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. wedding?" who was a member of your goose club." silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "Yes, certainly." I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "Yes." and your relations to her." cigars in their mouths. "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "Was he the only applicant?" stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow crowd. Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might a monotonous occupation." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote too. from the brougham. go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "'Then let me do so?' "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock "He said too much." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor in this note: "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "And how did you verify them?" dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a the bottom.' reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat His name is Francis Prosper." a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "And how did you verify them?" "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had fled together." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for brain must have something in it." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has I held the little printed slip to the light. sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for hurried by. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to presented which may be striking and bizarre without being The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Well." "Nothing." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which such attractions and accomplishments?' to that open window." astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." "I am to be neutral?" abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "Was she in good spirits?" papers diligently of late, have you not?" "And for present expenses?" the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I the morning and make my own way in the world.' "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that from the brougham. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "Yes." following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "Always." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I which are rolled in Rotterdam." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "At what time?" better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "This photograph!" word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of