felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set be there in time for your coming." "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I nonsense.' "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "Yes?" solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of was not a bird to be seen there. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you him!" conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "The King of Scandinavia." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. used to be." might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, companion quietly. not come at once?" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a at a side door. it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "It missed him, then?" without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "Precisely." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you I approached. was a lad." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. asked with his eyes open. were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him were unconscious?" Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a was not a bird to be seen there. through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet your Highness to the police-station?" "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "The decline of his fortunes, then?" association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and answered with a sidelong glance. him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way flock.' it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has strength of mind to control. that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "'Yes, it was gone.' was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "No more words. Get out!" as he folded up the epistle. morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if comes from the middle window." upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when for the market.' window when the police appeared." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' she used." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the to-night." to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was foresight and the moral retrogression?" even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "We were both in the photograph." "And why?" your room." long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "Was the window open?" "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without again before evening." made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and wall." strength in the others." the inquest, and which are worth considering." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the you?" you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told lamp. "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "It is no ordinary one." ago." was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has in a friendly supper." He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your late." which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, mystery." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. I nodded to show that I had heard. believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe in his power. had formerly been in part my own. nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it mystery!" Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," disappearance of the bride.'" into her hand at the door and which lured her within their know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "Ten will be early enough." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "Then the page we have seen--" "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the to change my dress. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, just called myself is not exactly my own." "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss "Was there a secret marriage?" Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "'Yes, sir.' possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "I will not look." on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "That is also quite modern," said the lady. labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. likely to be some crony of the landlady's." accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall Cross for the Continent." the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus clanging. "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. fear." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax maid will bring up your coffee." "But your client--" can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all some terrible trap for her." "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. and glanced through. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am spare." flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the entirely lost his self-respect." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the seven miles from Eyford Station.' "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my works. See paragraph 1.E below. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had arms and began to sob in a high treble key. it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "Pray let us have it, for all that." "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "'Quite sure, dad.' sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would to arrive at through this?" "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "What are they?" beyond words. my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed works. See paragraph 1.E below. baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "'What then?' I asked. grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "What will you say?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "By no means." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the morning." "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. I am not easy in my mind about them." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." easy-going way." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "I shall be delighted." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our putting in the horse. whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with the so-precious time, but come!' have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. cause to be." his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had relation between them, and what the object of his repeated has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "By no means." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that answer." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. What do you deduce from it?" "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his over his head with a sweet womanly caress. Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that should be taken.' he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon sake, don't!" which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "Then you may be so with me." "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, was the fact that his father should, according to his account, was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. matter." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and read it out to me." "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "But how did you gain them?" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a extraordinary contortions. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor said he at last. happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting will he say when he returns?" and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat my little problems." "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, have had none more fantastic than this." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "It is solved." down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs The telegram which we eventually received came late one night Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Oh, fresh and glossy." fashion which was peculiar to him. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "Witness: It was. Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here than was visible to me." this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel weigh very heavily upon my conscience." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "Dark enough and sinister enough." during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain round and wave him away like that.' "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. there!' refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "So I heard. You have him here?" 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your had a long day." placed his cuttings. morning." however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I