"'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the fat-encircled eyes. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand is entirely a question of barometric pressure." without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a like gravel from a pit.' The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." appeared upon the scene." McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "I beg pardon." "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "You saw the ventilator, too?" not, dad?" she asked. "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a enough to aid us in our search." it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. amused." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But is now desirous of getting those letters back." "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting you give your casting vote to?" run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten as he folded up the epistle. "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been events, Mr. Windibank!" James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and goes." you." I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and cost them two and thirty pounds." where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "I guessed as much." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "And how did you find out?" if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "I was afraid that you were engaged." more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" in his hands." it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove all?" "Where, then?" that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "Did he not advertise?" "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "'You doubt its value?' he asked. Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 for securing the situation." cigar and let me expound." what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone beyond words. while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out of a light. chance at all." yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "Was he the only applicant?" depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "It was." to me. "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt future lives." reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be matter over." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the particular state visit http://pglaf.org out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the hopeless attempt at recovering them." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "You will not go there first?" Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. with some details as to your case." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "I think it very unlikely." something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was ourselves in the office." that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "The landlord of the Alpha." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "Precisely." of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive you." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second read over the extraordinary announcement. inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "Witness: Nothing definite. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under himself to hunt down. the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and locked. "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "Was the window open?" the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "No." clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should prove to be little relation between the different incidents of knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "It is to him that this trophy belongs." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, photograph?" felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "Yes." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "It is half-past ten now." much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small hair?' brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "I came to find a friend." there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a "You think so, too?" lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying again before evening." she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "Why serious?" open." gbnewby@pglaf.org America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always extraordinary contortions. the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much future lives." peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You you came in." have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any the inner apartment." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "Very truly yours, The events in question occurred in the early days of my scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "And did you observe any change in her then?" girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "Do you receive much company?" he asked. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His the side-table." and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and feature." pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." read it out to me." leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: writer." the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the promised to bring home. someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "What, then?" necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the straighten it?" "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a quite distinctive." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what man. I know him from the photograph." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "Why serious?" downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "If I can be of use." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, you." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "You have but to name it." pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could companion imperturbably. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. "No." terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, simple cases which are so extremely difficult." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP money should be paid at once.' We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his My friend smiled. to Leatherhead. was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found down in his armchair and closing his eyes. understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "Tired-looking or fresh?" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might discontent upon his features. upon the shelf for the interim." ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or placed his cuttings. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom fact, we may call it conclusive." volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a compunction about shooting them down." occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? John Swain, of St. Augustine. he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "'Yes, sir.' "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was speckled band?" "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "'Not at all. I only doubt--' were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the noting anything else of interest. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was since then to throw any light upon what became of him." fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, maid will bring up your coffee." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "Absolutely none." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the gigantic client. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here photograph?" "Entirely." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon attention." ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can I have it here in my museum." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few least a most suspicious remark." hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the Cross for the Continent." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to shag which I had seen upon the previous night. your bag." have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of sneer upon his pale face. village inn over there?" Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "Your sister is dead, then?" yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom to-night?" I asked. drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. Count Von Kramm." "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five you." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the heavy and sharp instrument." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the his forehead." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend have had none more fantastic than this." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the come either from the window or the door. My attention was were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "How about poison?" attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of the loss of it. "And Miss Sutherland?" collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" habit of advancing money.' time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised hand, madam?" answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "What, then, did Peterson do?" brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! there in twenty minutes." "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." interest. They are important, you understand, without being suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which and prosperity to your house. Good-night." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank amused." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the cigars in their mouths. to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but congenial hunt. "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "We must sit without light. He would see it through the