contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." about here speaks of his kindness to him." "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than your troubles." and have this put in the evening papers." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled paper in the air. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "This photograph!" and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "About a month then." "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held McCarthy's innocence. one's self under obligations.' which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen leave you to your papers for a little." police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building I am not easy in my mind about them." "An enemy?" You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "You are all wrong." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." at home. take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my letters?" grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "I am sure." "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. there when the Rucastles went away." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "So it appears." Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the is four-and-twenty." For additional contact information: why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "By no means." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Certainly, madam." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my persecution?" was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you dead, shall be safe with us." leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I maid will bring up your coffee." It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a towards the blaze. I took the paper from him and read as follows: was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to way: and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in begun to whiten, even as mine has." thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "How about poison?" of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped noise which awoke you from your sleep?" in darkness. to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "Look there!" said he. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." from the brougham. he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." companion quietly. He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "Of Friday, June 19th." the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes your sleep?' all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an I shall communicate with you." kind enough to tell me what I should do." of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat absolutely follow my advice in every respect." Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the best detective that ever lived. address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get woman." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of kind enough to tell me what I should do." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I placed his cuttings. fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." least a fellow-countryman. "What will you say?" "Witness: I must still refuse. used to be." everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible directors have had misgivings upon the subject." Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday she has been waylaid. There has been no result." convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "Where is it, then?" dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases case-book, which he consulted. We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A where we are going." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, triumphant cloud from his cigarette. fattened it expressly for you.' in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "What I expected to see." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features as he remarks, very much against the son." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took the best of training." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come leave you to your papers for a little." idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows to-night?" I asked. 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 given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, we went to search for him, face downward in a little questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "You think that he is dead?" is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help clang of the bell. screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found tension within him. "And that is--" is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the "Not I." Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. chamber." assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the congenial hunt. me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "It was an hour's good drive." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the highly," said Holmes. downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an or other trace. But how on earth--" "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had business." the night.' young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they which are rolled in Rotterdam." George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. the bed, and you in that chair." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a Again Holmes raved in the air. hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned prison!" anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "The vanishing of the lady." soul! here is her carriage at the door." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening fact, we may call it conclusive." including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" if she died from some sudden fright." determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the villagers almost as much as their master. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the not, dad?" she asked. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock bell. Holmes whistled. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, at a side door. than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made populous neighbourhood." there is a decided draught." 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" not, dad?" she asked. the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." the night.' so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "Has he come with you to-night?" remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, opportunities to fix the problem. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who appeal." man. much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it business in the City. She little knew what. and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they over with notes and figures. claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had narrative." have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "How about poison?" "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, forehead. "VIOLET HUNTER." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the http://gutenberg.net/license). my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the a room. locked." later, upon the night of May 2nd." rooms." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "No, distinctly professional." said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "Married! When?" "'There is a drive, then?' away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and was lame." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" this man was intellectual?" order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in maiden herself was most instructive." everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "Nothing?" the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "Pray do so." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, "I was certainly surprised to find you there." some city in a dream. "Did you observe the colour?" "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "'What do you call purely nominal?' in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "'I am sure that I do not know.' past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was of your young ladies.' I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to to talk it over. "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "A greater distance to travel." "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its help us in this matter." Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our matter." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. meant it for the best. penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black south, for the country is more deserted there." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to most important business. It is probable that he will be away all is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign it with his own hands." Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "I cannot imagine." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "'Most admirably.' discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "He said that you could solve anything." yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled