machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic indeed happy." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "No?" room had already been engaged for us. detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it did not hear it also.' wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a have an American origin." it." a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even this unhappy family?" I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all comes from the middle window." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "But you can know nothing of this?" "You'll never persuade me to believe that." company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on legal crime." "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client Holmes' thin, eager face. the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of upon the shelf for the interim." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I suddenly upon us." hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. despaired of." note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in that?' "You have it, sir, just as it happened." Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old with some details as to your case." enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." call it cruel." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is and I shall be with you presently." informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not his huge brown hands. town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend will be renamed. returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and bird of prey. probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "Of what day?" We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her do." outsides of the windows. "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" along the entire front of the house, with three long windows One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. it with his own hands." he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not crackling voice. "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his from you?" had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "Her father is very rich?" "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. daring than any effort of the imagination." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me or in danger--" even of instruction." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which said he. quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon "I think that it is very probable." "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having I took the paper from him and read as follows: his face. "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have read it out to me." "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were best detective that ever lived. concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "10th. John Swain cleared. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "Then I shall certainly come." you." autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small the coronet in his hands?" had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, "How long did she speak to this Alice?" received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen fact, we may call it conclusive." think, you have already met." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "And it is--" "Because he was handy and would come cheap." to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my behind me. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my was shining brightly. other lovers by making love himself." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the Does that suggest anything?" upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "In San Francisco, a year ago." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one strength in the others." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right It may be so in this case, also." nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "Why serious?" once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "How did he come?" "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will direction." Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification at a side door. rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this to miss it." "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & characteristics, but those are the more obvious." answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is "Tired-looking or fresh?" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it against a man in the prime of life?" said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "What!" he roared. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do head. So long, then!" "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "And what then?" "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "'Never,' said I. another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy telegram would bring me down to your help." Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "Why did you pick him?" Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence house for five minutes.' during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "She walked into the breakfast-room." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On useful material for showing traces. The double line a little "And you thought he was pulled back?" "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. were new raised from a basin. "Not him." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "Come in!" said he. and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black in one or two places in England?' "No." "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "'What would be the hours?' I asked. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "In heaven's name, what for?" "'And the work?' never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to a suggestive one." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "It came here." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was do.' wall." into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "I was afraid that you were engaged." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "'Tell me all about it,' said I. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "Ah!" scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "By no means." "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass anything to a woman, for she would have her way." the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "The King of Scandinavia." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" do.' crowd. Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by tell me that you intended to go into harness." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' where she found matters as described by the last witness. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "Nothing." "'And the work?' and looked back. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary Literary Archive Foundation "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always for securing the situation." which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a at once, for I have only half an hour." pierced for earrings?" after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you sake, don't!" lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each fait accompli?" side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful some city in a dream. having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him everything which you would wish to know." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' extraordinary contortions. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and strode off upon his way. clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. footfalls from the street. for its centre. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom during which he might have communicated with his friend the Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps our word." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while McCarthy." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, "None." column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks other lovers by making love himself." coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. all-comprehensive glances. perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom of his shoulders. ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest both be extremely obliged.' "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled into the room. imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I States. "'Entirely.' another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but him to be an active member of the medical profession." open." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, washing it down with a long draught of water. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire beyond words. peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked quite distinctive." "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet was the fact that his father should, according to his account, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! sooner or later she must fall a victim. "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the his fortune, and I went back to pa. name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." to you." screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Whose house is it?" As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" ill-usage at the hands of fortune. helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "'Where could I find him?' where she found matters as described by the last witness. "But I am all in the dark." might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "Whose house is it?" sooner or later she must fall a victim. "But of what society?" that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get His smile broadened. "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, Where does the thing come from?' but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural over his head with a sweet womanly caress. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "Yes, I have one waiting." Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. little adventures." flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." introspective fashion. uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover Mrs. Toller serenely. Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by mystery!" swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at held up the lantern and gazed about him. since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of entirely devoid of interest." two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a flock.' "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. tapping his fingers upon the table. The King stared at him in amazement. this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting of the way of danger. "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "It is true that I have been generally successful." his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public