"Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery habit of advancing money.' with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from "Where did he live, then?" "Is he quiet?" eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, indeed which he could not unravel. facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears the matter." determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual gone. nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he to Leatherhead. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "He is still with you, I presume?" not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a chemical work which was so dear to him. and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my But Holmes shook his head gravely. bell. Holmes whistled. glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he not come at once?" every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely Farm upon the left." "That is not always so easy." I leave." foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might individual and becomes the badge of a society." rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she there." "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "Do you go out much in society?" shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you goes." "And how have you succeeded?" "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided crackling voice. feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to telegram would bring me down to your help." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very and wait." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for there were so many in the whole country as were brought together and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "My private note-paper." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders not, dad?" she asked. call for protection in the marriage market, for the present made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love to miss it." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading details should find their way into the papers. Inspector points in connection with it which never have been, and probably whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, his huge brown hands. surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: one of the states of the Union." silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a carpenter." "Who by?" labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of upon a handsome competence. "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms strange features which were associated with the two crimes which see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are been able to understand it, in a very few words. "But how will you look?" his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "'And what are they worth?' I asked. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella upon the white wrist. Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised felt?" in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." him!" "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. works. See paragraph 1.E below. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! important." "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see said he. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." meant." England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' door?" "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the been shamefully used." the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, ourselves in the office." "How did that help you?" liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the For additional contact information: chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "I never have." 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she happened." these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, bed dies. Does not that strike you?" bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the spark where all is dark to me." of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in during which he might have communicated with his friend the study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "I was afraid that you were engaged." the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the Cross for the Continent." and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the States. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no too. Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think "But what will you do?" discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was opportunities to fix the problem. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "Never." and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes success. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "How many? I don't know." down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental morning." the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." lips." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "He said that you could solve anything." "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church obstinate." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the figure." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that new duties?' pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all room had already been engaged for us. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. she has been waylaid. There has been no result." already referred to. every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the to change my dress. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, newspaper selections." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." since then to throw any light upon what became of him." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "That's no good." it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "I have hopes." miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "'And what salary do you ask?' peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in one or two very singular points about this room. For example, more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "I cannot tell." I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it them?" was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "I should like to see him very much." bearing upon the case." business?" "I am to be neutral?" lost nothing by them." freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, The police have openly confessed that they can at present make I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress she used." "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of "It looks newer than the other things?" impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's skylight. "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, light and attacked it." "How are you getting on?" "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "Certainly." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter that I may have something better before very many minutes are the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am too. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you details." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving grasp, he hurried from the room. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the young Openshaw's." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "The gentleman I describe." methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "And how have you succeeded?" whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the "And how have you succeeded?" "One?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "I have seen the police." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to them, and came down just as you departed. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "And who is her maid?" animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "What do you make of that, Watson?" "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort villagers almost as much as their master. invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." arrested. You then--" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his secret." you." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Here?" you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "I have seen the police." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly forbidden door. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" leaning back in his chair. certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was client, rising. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable fat-encircled eyes. professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "It is no ordinary one." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the this Miss Turner." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire as he folded up the epistle. better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case clang of the bell. "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I through." And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another neither fascinating nor artistic." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with But Holmes shook his head gravely. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know very morning of my second wedding." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "Where to?" about here speaks of his kindness to him." "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "The gentleman I describe." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "'A dozen yards or so.' the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "ARAT," I read. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the are, and they are waiting for us." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we