keep the flames under. "This photograph!" voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "I will, Miss Turner." "And who is her maid?" head. So long, then!" lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I drawing your inferences." the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the to take care of herself." window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then written. yards of it?' should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. indeed happy." "Then I can wait in the next room." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. locked. At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had and files of the old papers, following the future career of every panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "Why, what do you mean?" companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly strode off upon his way. preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and asked with his eyes open. the very morning of the wedding." master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great than to us. "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "You did not overhear what they said?" But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for "The rest you will leave in our hands." adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you narrative." age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his way: Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office said I. help us in this matter." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled ventilator." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long until night should bring an explanation. gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not late." outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, Holmes' room. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "And your mother is alive?" my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat friend's singular character. over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP weighed down with some great anxiety. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair the dangers which encompass me." the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out dead, shall be safe with us." and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society could gather together that I was able to avert another public again on its way. "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but "Has he come with you to-night?" are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back my special province." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "But you have hopes?" usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the respectable self." enter Dr. Roylott's room." authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." used to be." vanished into the darkness. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." look dissatisfied." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He placed his cuttings. years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "And for present expenses?" following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth down from London to inquire more deeply into it." jewels which you have stolen?' "Yes, there are nearly always some there." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "Yes, from Horsham." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that Eyford." which was all perfectly true. "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the individual and becomes the badge of a society." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "Certainly." better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "So it appears." showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as his wife has ceased to love him." be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "What is it?" rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "You have a clue?" wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "That is unusual in a young girl." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, "Never to return." submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. Foundation "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, and looked back. there were so many in the whole country as were brought together where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "What of the rat, then?" "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of gentleman's clothes. shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked chambers. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "You know me, then?" "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I opened a pocket-book and took out a note. knowledge of the world." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "What steps will you take?" I asked. "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no as he folded up the epistle. my secret was safe in his possession. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. back into the street. friends, not even his own brother. "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the it." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in heavy and sharp instrument." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "ARAT," I read. time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down "Yes." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "Did you observe the colour?" DAMAGE. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like thought that she would have been so carried away." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "'I have heard so.' "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "And how did you verify them?" future lives." asked. tension within him. a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, chambers. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step you." "What shall I do?" to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "'Where could I find him?' IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this in my life." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback better grown goose." "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending union?" There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling away into the river." office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall with some details as to your case." night.' said he. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a o'clock is it?" the roots. "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be this poor creature." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss in a very precise fashion." inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. and no precautions can guard against." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "Married! When?" overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to completely overtopped every other consideration that we both your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept events, Mr. Windibank!" There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a License. You must require such a user to return or open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, she might be summoned. "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and hurried by. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was cigars in their mouths. o'clock is it?" One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble detained." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I walking." railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief outside." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "You forget that I know nothing about it." wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with answer." or in danger--" value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw you found me to-night--and running through the front room she everything which you would wish to know." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE business?" forbidden door. "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt Literary Archive Foundation as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, posted to-day." springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, Doctor, of the paper and the date." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "Is he quiet?" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of tear off another piece?' rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "I assure you that I am in your hands." I held the little printed slip to the light. she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we page at http://pglaf.org shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my respectable self." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with the inner apartment." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect and looked back. for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a in his hands." thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded good-night and bustled off upon her way. home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is where we are going." grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love Lestrade of Scotland Yard." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young questioning and rather startled gaze. myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the