and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those it right.' possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He my room." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account about. furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "Then you may entirely rely on me." http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "Nothing." presume?" said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain carried out of court." sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of assist you in forming an opinion." John Swain, of St. Augustine. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "And leave your case unfinished?" walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw pressing in one house as in another. in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have in his power. "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "How about poison?" in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as this Miss Turner." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, and inquire as to the address." and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, The telegram which we eventually received came late one night some mystery and the punishment of some crime." the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head 1.F. suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "Did you become engaged then?" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some thin, with a long, sharp nose?" endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his cigars in the box." had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. shall not find me ungrateful." an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It directors, with the result that you have seen." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of only touch the interest." "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "'Stolen!' he cried. myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not just ask you whether you had heard it.' analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the It was close upon four before the door opened, and a Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant there!' business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were depend upon my doing so.' unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked arrested. You then--" the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. breakfast?" in his hands." the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave that you can jump it.' written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different upon a handsome competence. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless "Look there!" said he. footfalls from the street. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to promised to bring home. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very unprecedented a position." "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous frequently gained my first real insight into the character of are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "No legal papers or certificates?" golden eyeglasses. bearing upon the case." to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my detective. "You were travelling in the States?" pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, woman who has had her own way to make in the world. then?" the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "Well, but China?" hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" entirely devoid of interest." 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two at my own good fortune. and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you acted in my house last night?" "Where did you address your letters, then?" "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the knowledge of the world." drawing your inferences." "At half-wages, in fact." her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "What is it, then--a fire?" flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. of the way of danger. considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "If so, much may have happened between." and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "Seven!" I answered. workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. was once confined in the cab my mission was practically of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "How about poison?" small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of despair." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round waste of energy." "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the society." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. quickly through a disagreeable task. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban remarked. trifles." think that any burglar could have done. presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand introspective fashion. I am not easy in my mind about them." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "I cannot imagine." although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us quite distinctive." observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a it." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "And how?" The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon rat could hardly pass through." Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, humiliation." "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, placed his cuttings. success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, your room." dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he straightened it out again. "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted to take care of herself." "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down to affect your life." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as situation." upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "What office?" putting in the horse. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, Farm upon the left." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "'Oh, no.' quite distinctive." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' a few minutes he said that it would be all right. green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an good for you to do.' them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Nothing." frequently gained my first real insight into the character of a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." "'And the work?' had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she of a light. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I point in the dark hollow of his hand. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." not use it unless it is absolutely needed." or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news unprecedented a position." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "It was a confession," I ejaculated. was a lad." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "One?" the dangers which encompass me." following enigmatical notices: you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Nothing?" "But his lameness?" why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, in the dead of the night?' One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave lost his Christmas dinner." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which upon an income of about 60 pounds." cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, or in danger--" time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "I would pay ten." and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had breakfast?" years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "I will get her to show me." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "He is still with you, I presume?" without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every to some other building. outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my IS direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring thought that she would have been so carried away." questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. digesting their breakfasts at home." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in bare slabs of marble. "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Witness: I must still refuse. in my life." my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every with you alone." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire occurred." place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's something of him before." ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose suddenly upon us." brandy and water within his reach. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three character. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "You are certainly joking, Holmes." the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said back to my heart. explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "So I have heard." were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "I think that it is very probable." and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "Well, it is a possible supposition." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall nothing of it?" petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a matter over." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a individual and becomes the badge of a society." perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH all-comprehensive glances. to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat thin legs towards the fire. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in posted to-day." had formerly been in part my own. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "'And what salary do you ask?' sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded towards the blaze. I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people society." is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "But how?" approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take whole matter to your consideration." that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he of receipt of the work. stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. into the bag, and made for the door. "It looks newer than the other things?" over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' the so-precious time, but come!' "But his lameness?" o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "'Certainly not.' a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of Project Gutenberg-tm works. habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old