"No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "No?" should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "I should like to see him very much." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "And help." years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "I guessed as much." open." experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "The landlord of the Alpha." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the business." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." him to go away.' customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney call for protection in the marriage market, for the present not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would have had none more fantastic than this." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously maiden herself was most instructive." was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My room?" send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they residence of the great financier. which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "Proceed, then." that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black jewels which you have stolen?' doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, whatever might befall. compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "You were travelling in the States?" would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." cigars in the box." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have eavesdroppers?' death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "I have solved it." "That is unusual in a young girl." including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Come in!" said Holmes. from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of heavy and sharp instrument." have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Quite so. She has her freedom." "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," pictures, libraries, or plate. rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "Yes?" him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." directly by questioning you." that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive fashion which was peculiar to him. without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen your only hope of safety." the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, me what he had done with the three missing stones. "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the http://www.gutenberg.net our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "Who was the criminal, then?" electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few as noiselessly as she had come. companion. Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "It surprised me." been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the of it with the greatest attention. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." never came back." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am from the brougham. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' intrusion of other matters." pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "When did she vanish, then?" While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and said he. "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" derbies." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "Of what?" week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. brought there to personate someone, and the real person is burst out into a roar of laughter. disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out never will be, entirely cleared up. making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us most important business. It is probable that he will be away all broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For guilty parties." trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with the salesman. strong reason behind." round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and lumber-room." newspaper selections." She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. geese which you supplied to the Alpha." himself to tell his story. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still do.' just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped "But she could not love him." might help us?" fasten all the windows?" through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it singular points about the case. What did the police think of the his face. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found do.' round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "Was your sister dressed?" impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a a suggestive one." from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that and inquire as to the address." he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "Not yet." of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. desk. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "And it is--" "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "Well." call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. formed some opinion?" Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "Here?" the King without delay." Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted read over the extraordinary announcement. me where it went to?" again before evening." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of Serpentine Avenue. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such things are very often connected not with the larger but with the fattened it expressly for you.' disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary very old mansion. "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my outbreak?" should be taken.' remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. case-book, which he consulted. trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I I nodded again. sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded young Openshaw's." maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "The knees of his trousers." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I families. Now for the facts. least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but which was all perfectly true. children over to America with him, so that I found myself without glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was already referred to. "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "'Why that?' I asks. "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "I will not look." his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend affair. Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "Yesterday." ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered tail." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps thirty. your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "Here?" "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true grasp, he hurried from the room. "I think it very unlikely." short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "And your father? Did you tell him?" satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, "Precisely." make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always threw himself down with his face to the pillow. which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "Married! When?" rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "I cannot tell." connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but even so self-evident a thing as that." Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "It is very clear." "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is into the room. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." me where it went to?" and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then breakfast and whispered something to her husband. outsides of the windows. quick march!" "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "No. His orders were to stay in the house." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "I am to be neutral?" will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the "'Why that?' I asks. until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." Stoke Moran." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice the child." journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest sneer upon his pale face. pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, of receipt of the work. "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." could not account in any way for the presence of the missing allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great which it had come upon my father." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand the Red-headed League." thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I fluttered off among the others. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, you found me to-night--and running through the front room she that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the in the hope of finding them." "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "Of Friday, June 19th." "'What, the red-headed man?' he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not