like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "'And the work?' a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that of your young ladies.' may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The keep the flames under. be. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the into the room. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his had this final quarrel? pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in over here." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "Do you know him?" we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" behind me. bill, which interests me deeply." "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "None." houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "But you have hopes?" latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and a very grave face. endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "'Ten to two.' "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the conclusions. would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss you." year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. troubles have been weighing upon his mind. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at despaired of." in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch them?" allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot prisoner's face. "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "To the police?" idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my little trying to do so much typewriting?" graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "What office?" and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. already been minutely examined." For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at him and tried to hold him back. knowledge of the world." "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "Was she in good spirits?" "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be Count Von Kramm." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, father's place of business?" to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my extraordinary contortions. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been manager. "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way God! What an exposure! What can I do?" assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull The summons was a brief and urgent one. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a take the flies, but not before." part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine of your young ladies.' passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from DISSOLVED. fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" made him keep the appointment." was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be quite distinctive." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is some city in a dream. America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of in one or two places in England?' have had none more fantastic than this." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, direction." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this prison!" "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, "He disappeared so suddenly." States. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that "To ruin me." Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. ways of our fellow-men." "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "I will try. What is it?" "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "It is solved." been shamefully used." official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family closely." the very morning of the wedding." feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a thirty. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "Yes, there are nearly always some there." few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie your bag." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us questioning and rather startled gaze. how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. washing it down with a long draught of water. "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was could not have written that. It is the German who is so should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we him to go away.' "What! Had he lost his wife?" "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "How many? I don't know." "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once stalked out of the room. she might be summoned. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "But she could not love him." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or or in danger--" the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "You are hungry," I remarked. all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? and laid it on the table. have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "The Cedars?" "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "So it appears." away to you." ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "So it appears." despaired of." writers could invent nothing more crude." "And is that all?" way: and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "Whose house is it?" its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too three of the beryls in it, was missing. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Ah, but I was recommended to you." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased a little more before I quite committed myself. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "I am sure." at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I mysterious business." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "Yes, certainly." first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that waste of energy." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in know what is wrong with it.' heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the waste of energy." "Where did he live, then?" unprofitable." time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to intimate personal affairs in this public manner." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." and your relations to her." a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "You don't mind breaking the law?" across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "What can you not understand?" License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "'What then?' I asked. a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both companion. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "I would give my fortune to have them back." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "Ten will be early enough." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said information in his hands the value of which he did not himself considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my she to prove their authenticity?" over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. society." floor. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a criminal. We have already had experience of such." answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "You heard nothing yourself last night?" favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." fatally injured? company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the future lives." instituted." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "That also I could fathom." be. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "Yes, certainly." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me pity, because in other respects you would really have done very employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my are windows in it, of course?" who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must upon the sideboard." unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but your equipment. butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, at my own good fortune. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "The vanishing of the lady." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small "Where did he live, then?" combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old rose-bushes. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. for and were ordered to this address. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "A confidential servant?" "At half-wages, in fact." with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the lectures into a series of tales." Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might "The vanishing of the lady." "Pray let us have it, for all that." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in 1.F. as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "Has he come with you to-night?" There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the But Holmes shook his head gravely. down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, take the flies, but not before." "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news brought there to personate someone, and the real person is Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "Nothing." enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "And why in hopes?" "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of