lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "But you were on a friendly footing?" disappearance of the bride.'" "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a The note was undated, and without either signature or address. pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their becomes even more simple." robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "My Mary? Impossible!" professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "Seven!" I answered. jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' gigantic client. good for you to do.' he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean page at http://pglaf.org the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the go back?" six. Come in!" cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been Foundation "But it has twice been burgled." man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, ventilator." framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar 1.E.9. a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon suggested at once that there must be a communication between the charged with?" the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so page at http://pglaf.org It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "'Yes, it was gone.' certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his entirely devoid of interest." outside." the salesman. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' have been better. It is all right." without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained the devil!" "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my could gather together that I was able to avert another public Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain less than 26s. 4d. "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "The vanishing of the lady." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though the King without delay." to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, outside. fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Was there a secret marriage?" is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his to have been novel and of interest." "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, McCarthy." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece washing it down with a long draught of water. low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case paper in the air. dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "You don't mind breaking the law?" he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "Entirely." named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; purpose equally well?" look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? things are very often connected not with the larger but with the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. certainly not very gracious." engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds copied or distributed: "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him fish-monger and a tide-waiter." knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." bled considerably." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. asked with his eyes open. Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and Leave Paddington by the 11:15." invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he the matter." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "No." long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles Leadenhall Street--and--" lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There pound a week." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Awake, Watson?" he asked. Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do 1.E.9. introspective fashion. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the do.' how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no to that open window." finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was vague figure huddled up in the darkness. confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay always that they were such commands as a lady might with "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very with you?" loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Dark enough and sinister enough." "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "What then?" "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "That is easily got." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing way in." ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance business?" derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right goes." safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my 11:15.' house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming friends, not even his own brother. stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "It is a murder, then?" "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very official police." "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate murdered man." all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "We must sit without light. He would see it through the without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided have accepted such a situation. untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known brought there to personate someone, and the real person is to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "He is still with you, I presume?" into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the something of him before." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a make me his representative both with the servants and with the once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It to-night?" I asked. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so the running down." him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my jewels which you have stolen?' reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "The murder was done with it." Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the this man was intellectual?" a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, locked." Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage laugh and put his lips to my ear. "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more views." "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "No, I had a dozen." thin, with a long, sharp nose?" stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up make me his representative both with the servants and with the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the Holmes." appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can Eyford at 11:15.' coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do charged with?" office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the be.' police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as "What do you make of that, Watson?" He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "'No, I know no one in these parts.' you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. the nursery. side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the be.' whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door long narrative. "Yes?" sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, are, I think, all that we need." despair." with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Not in a good cause." some city in a dream. was a loud and authoritative tap. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "My dear Holmes!" "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to her also." whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed cheerful." entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. outbreak?" the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all the very letters. But what is this written above them?' ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding question you as to those details which seem to me to be most light and attacked it." or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "What office?" he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting taking in every detail of the apartment. I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural our word." appeal." of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King ill-usage at the hands of fortune. Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." chambers. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I and no precautions can guard against." "Then I do not see the point." about here speaks of his kindness to him." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted that threaten you." rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a over part of the map. "What do you read?" me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "'Is purely nominal.' particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply subject to the trademark license, especially commercial abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of becomes even more simple." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "None. Neville wrote those words." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, chamber." the general public were present, then?" were unconscious?" an introduction to him?" your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs I held the little printed slip to the light. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "She told me to ask you." He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he friends, not even his own brother. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took