follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Then I can wait in the next room." "'Which dealer's?' "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking tell him that I know him to be innocent." Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the matter." Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "In what way?" asked Holmes. which it had come upon my father." came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular whatever might befall. rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "'Most admirably.' point our research must commence, and we will begin it by was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before Cross for the Continent." Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the disappearance of the bride.'" diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor delirious. All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady strength in the others." wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every strength." "'Yes.' inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn the general public were present, then?" years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in photograph?" "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my yourselves in at night?" shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying will find little credit to be gained out of this case." dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door what these perils are?" long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which detective. that he has suffered." "And now?" I asked. DISSOLVED. beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with "Really! You surprise me." with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the father's place of business?" "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" Mary, has deserted me." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "I have seen the police." hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and noble correspondent could be. I shall continue with my miserable story. donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said stalked out of the room. be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but fatally injured? way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had way: unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "'I have already given you my word.' "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "You think so, too?" does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined 'please.'" will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "She walked into the breakfast-room." states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of note?" might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into and no precautions can guard against." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not "'Which dealer's?' erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door will be renamed. "Pray do so." "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full the south-west, I see." your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or investigation." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's unclasping of his long thin hands. time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and look dissatisfied." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he hardly wander." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him speckled band?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it in his hands." had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "I should like to see him very much." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "'About the same.' only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely confronted him. copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "Just look it up, then." with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "'What then?' I asked. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of article?" bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker during that time.' method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "No sign of it?" weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "I am armed." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear new duties?' his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across McCarthy's innocence. the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. next day. you for a few hours?" writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of said he. his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "It certainly sounds feasible." "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and you?' papers diligently of late, have you not?" "I will not look." "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, side. "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "What then?" Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down fire. You quite follow me?" gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no and your relations to her." imbecility!" he cried. you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere Serpentine Avenue. you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left we went to search for him, face downward in a little my secret was safe in his possession. which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small The summons was a brief and urgent one. as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and garden below. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of Edgeware Road. once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my cigar and let me expound." smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a matter." she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." laugh and put his lips to my ear. I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "It must be recovered." "Why did you beat the pavement?" endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey delirious. article?" "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "Holmes, the busybody!" "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the has little to do with my story." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. "I will get her to show me." village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the anything to do with the matter?" "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "About a month then." new acquaintance to Baker Street. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of "How about poison?" mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been interest. They are important, you understand, without being are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "I was certainly surprised to find you there." may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, of this gang." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "I answered that I had not. Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "I answered that I had not. "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, populous neighbourhood." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for "Yes, that is the Crown." by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "I promise," said Holmes. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked "Your French gold?" it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the letters?" absorbing." of campaign. "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door business came to an end." "Who was the criminal, then?" nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa on in his house." train from Paddington which would bring you there at about and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. garden below. the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement have been better. It is all right." "Were they all fastened this morning?" such attractions and accomplishments?' "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," see me here to avoid scandal." The summons was a brief and urgent one. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "'Yes, it was gone.' though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "What can it mean?" I gasped. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this companion quietly. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "I cannot say that I have." of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential the matter." luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems himself. States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that must be when I saw the door open.' servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "But I am all in the dark." am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "But of what society?" we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "Have you it here?" the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost Does that suggest anything?" us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "Well, but China?" Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to foot. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl been deceived." "I cannot imagine." "Yes." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Your French gold?" "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "'Yes.' been." I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip washing it down with a long draught of water. the window, rose as we entered. prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into I held the little printed slip to the light. drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in walking." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think cheerful." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would Surrey." Mary, has deserted me." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "No. His orders were to stay in the house." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a Sutherland?" light and attacked it." least a most suspicious remark." in this way: "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "VIOLET HUNTER." "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "What will you do, then?" Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "Entirely." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "That is possible." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had