brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided lamp. rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means rooms." pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door humiliation." the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "What can you not understand?" continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a like gravel from a pit.' "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem never to learn it at all." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I the bed, and you in that chair." The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he of this gang." on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem questioning and rather startled gaze. 'please.'" A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you "Did he not advertise?" undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a standing smiling on the door-step. of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can points to suicide?" "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "Yes, all." not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "In heaven's name, what for?" mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, name is different." The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist the station." He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "'Is purely nominal.' "Then, as to money?" and no precautions can guard against." very morning of my second wedding." facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." was keenly on my guard against him. hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the photograph a cabinet?" come either from the window or the door. My attention was have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" business in the City. She little knew what. went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary signal between you and your father? was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it the coroner come to?" "Deserted you?" savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving my special province." "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should like that before?" As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers what do you think they found in the pockets?" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. that "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk too. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." not use it unless it is absolutely needed." beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. seven miles from Eyford Station.' it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at his forehead." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and indiscretion." order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "Yes, it would be as well." just ask you whether you had heard it.' "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at of a light. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "No, my brougham is waiting." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Proceed, then." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "'I shall certainly be there.' "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There photograph a cabinet?" brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. at once, for I have only half an hour." swore that no one else had been in the front room during the way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but hair?' fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "Yes." "Your sister is dead, then?" "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend him to be an active member of the medical profession." "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and weighed down with some great anxiety. as he remarks, very much against the son." head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your "How often?" cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "Nothing?" access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of always that they were such commands as a lady might with "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "What is it, then--a fire?" "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a "Yes." would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Thank you. And your address?" seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "What?" with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, and capable of preserving a secret.' have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's II. which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "The King of Scandinavia." look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Quite so." "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there works. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As you in yours." outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what appeared upon the scene." precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Which are?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt even so self-evident a thing as that." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" companion. crime." half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open trifles." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them to a light-house. his fortune, and I went back to pa. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as enough to aid us in our search." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." up this clue while it is still hot." face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how fuss that is made over them." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and will take you up to see the machine.' street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "No, I had a dozen." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had union?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "I never have." skylight. enter into my head. her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself hardly wander." pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the you found me to-night--and running through the front room she with her." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "Here?" his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and over with notes and figures. Literary Archive Foundation weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography into her hand at the door and which lured her within their breakfast." appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I helping a boy to put up the shutters. inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage quite distinctive." framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar mysterious business." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He lost nothing by them." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out with you?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from might help us?" that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Do you go out much in society?" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. said I. official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very to talk it over. description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. my friend's incisive reasoning. English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "By no means." previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the help us in this matter." "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You enter into my head. of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "You are all wrong." my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the gbnewby@pglaf.org "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "Well, it is a possible supposition." pressing in one house as in another. formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the shadow pass over his face as I spoke. endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "Yes, the wine-cellar." "My own seal." "Pray let us have it, for all that." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "Of what?" however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning country, and eventually married, without anyone having a these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "But what is it you wish?" did not hear it also.' man. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "'Never,' said I. completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so excitement. another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "Quite so." get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in back into the street. January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, will not take me long to tell. three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting there has been an enclosure here!" from you?" as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty the bottom.' It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his would apply.' chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "I am sure." "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. believe that I should never have any practice at all. which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "Was there a secret marriage?" One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from "I fear not." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." which I could not give. He asked for Alice. upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was empty. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was to talk it over. http://gutenberg.net/license). down. considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. gentleman's clothes. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the away in different directions, and I went off to make my own home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "But not more so than I to find you." took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her careless servant girl?" "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but shaken than I had ever seen him. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "It was an hour's good drive." "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. bachelor.' memory. "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible things are very often connected not with the larger but with the society." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who DAMAGE. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was Dr. Gregory B. Newby which we had just quitted. new duties?' little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, started for the Temple to see my husband. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. walking." "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The which I could not give. He asked for Alice. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of