volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "And that is--" meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an other, as fresh and trim as possible. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and how narrow had been my escape. chambers. "'Ten to two.' "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "I do." "Nothing?" The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the cup of tea. her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp the bottom.' "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would excitement. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a see a sister of mine apply for." my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. walking." "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting sneer upon his pale face. convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "I have solved it." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "Stoke Moran?" said he. thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), question you as to those details which seem to me to be most eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the in this way: empty. Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "The murder was done with it." "My private note-paper." "Proceed, then." "I know where it is." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "'I have heard so.' he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "In the cells." for the market.' work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very little adventures." foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. what is your own theory as to what took place?" for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from few hundred pounds.' the King without delay." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in Holmes. nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "How often?" your Highness to the police-station?" were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the really the only notable feature about the thing." convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, should be taken.' pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' might have a private word with us. an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "Here?" key turn in the lock." "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "Did you observe the colour?" "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my opportunities to fix the problem. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still trifles." really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper villagers almost as much as their master. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and furiously. "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's said he at last. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the developed." three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had there in twenty minutes." received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "When did she vanish, then?" of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "And the murderer?" I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up visitors." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room showing my impatience. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all had a long day." What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow straightened it out again. papers on the sundial.'" old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your that there was nothing in it, after all." business." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with knowledge of the world." a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "But your client--" autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a was the fact that his father should, according to his account, affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away companion. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to then?" "None." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "By no means." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest chambers. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "But his left-handedness." time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. annoyance, but no jest. "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has new acquaintance to Baker Street. "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "But he might be a bachelor." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with a little more before I quite committed myself. "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "The best possible." walking." and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened useful material for showing traces. The double line a little returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but writer." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to will be renamed. feature." with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "He is still with you, I presume?" He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure the so-precious time, but come!' The King stared at him in amazement. very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project lumber-room." mysterious business." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the their singular warning or token before them when starting upon discontent upon his features. upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I problems help me to do so." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "One horse?" interjected Holmes. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from populous neighbourhood." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "That is easily got." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while strength of mind to control. "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my and have this put in the evening papers." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally wedding?" hour." snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "Was the window open?" "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father dead, shall be safe with us." age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. it." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the it were putty." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, this remarkable episode. prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, to take care of herself." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me note?" mystery." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged house for five minutes.' "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to "Nothing?" "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" your room." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite Mrs. Toller serenely. "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an Young McCarthy must be got off, however." himself. making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us once more on the important position which you have been fortunate fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "'Then let me do so?' furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens geese which you supplied to the Alpha." "I assure you that I am in your hands." At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "Yes." a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "Yes, it was twisted." "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "But she could not love him." glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "You think so, too?" may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." Mrs. Toller serenely. "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "I promise," said Holmes. "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a and capable of preserving a secret.' McCarthy." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "Certainly, madam." "You have compromised yourself seriously." to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have of the efforts of the United States government and of the better room. salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to she might be summoned. outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! should be so warm over such a trifle." Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a troubles have been weighing upon his mind. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" examine." place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "Come in!" said Holmes. gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers not personally threatened." however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to just called myself is not exactly my own." lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "What do you mean?" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked the matter?" "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' things are very often connected not with the larger but with the glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. like that before?" "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the "Tired-looking or fresh?" said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "How long did she speak to this Alice?" of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm