"Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked happened." the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At bell. Holmes whistled. "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "Then you may be so with me." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, it with his own hands." she has been waylaid. There has been no result." depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly with the outside air!" people in all walks of life. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "And I to find an enemy." "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many absolutely follow my advice in every respect." it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat and glanced through. c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were his knees, staring into the fire. against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to an introduction to him?" reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted "It certainly sounds feasible." "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about bearing upon the case." my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "You have it, sir, just as it happened." and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand him!" for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a http://gutenberg.net/license). they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "From his hat?" serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote bell. Holmes whistled. "Yes. He waved his hands." all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled During two years I have had three consultations and one small carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid comes from the middle window." slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "From his hat?" "It looks newer than the other things?" all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons enter Dr. Roylott's room." narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty records." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "I was sure that I might rely on you." "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. the coronet in his hands?" pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "I saw her in conversation with her maid." window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of and glanced through. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a it. during the last few years, and there are many noble families to rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so I am not easy in my mind about them." moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" your room." "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for in him." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that trifles." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some overpowering excitement and concern. this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and crackling voice. have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, himself in a perplexing position. do.' desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "That is also quite modern," said the lady. room. following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when the address that was given us in the advertisement. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "And how did you find out?" "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and seen the man in the road." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would events, Mr. Windibank!" and that he would see to anything that turned up. end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. written, and locked the door of the office after me. has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the the driver. 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and fat-encircled eyes. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "My Mary? Impossible!" 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the "I say it is." "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Do you know him?" years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "I never have." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to not personally threatened." all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for certainly not very gracious." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "Get out!" said he. on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates envelope. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little the loss of it. "That sounds a little paradoxical." "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some "'Why that?' I asks. informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who plantation.' may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove will he say when he returns?" "Come in!" said Holmes. very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "How about poison?" Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "But we can't all be." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my of fine shops and stately business premises that they really said he, "my real name is James Ryder." out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the place of silver." held up the lantern and gazed about him. the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive mysterious end." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the other means.' Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "Which surely he restored to their owner?" reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said room?" black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "I was mad--insane." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold charged with?" "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off intimate personal affairs in this public manner." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, it." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. forecastle of an emigrant ship. returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I. assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle IS He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "I would pay ten." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "I have hopes." liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in excitement. until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as get her out of the way." which I could not give. He asked for Alice. Foundation member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "It is to him that this trophy belongs." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "How often?" "What, then?" words came to my lips. you." to arrive at through this?" remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "Ah!" Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as there in twenty minutes." together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their lost nothing by them." beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Nothing." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "When did she vanish, then?" "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached danger is over." Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which the running down." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. third from London." to arrive at through this?" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO will he say when he returns?" "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is "Well." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little wedding?" voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. may never be exposed to such a temptation." "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "She walked into the breakfast-room." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There may have an influence upon European history." I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking giving me time to thank him. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose British peeress.'" glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "Texas, I think." why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "Just look it up, then." assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That your sleep?' very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after highly," said Holmes. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the morning." bonnet, and went out." sound at heart." "Ah!" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has more solid." insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever these bleak autumnal evenings." passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I "Where to?" he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my take the flies, but not before." pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "'Tell me all about it,' said I. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the will be renamed. have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "One of the highest in England." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. giving me time to thank him. at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "Well, some hundreds of times." suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "'I shall certainly be there.' of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He started for the Temple to see my husband. as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable his knees, staring into the fire. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this putting in the horse. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "Yes, all." "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "At the wedding breakfast." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It unprecedented a position." "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as "Quite so. She has her freedom." "Witness: Nothing definite. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or soul! here is her carriage at the door." detective. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to his fortune, and I went back to pa. correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. not come at once?" you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "I have solved it." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the anything to do with the matter?" obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. strong reason behind." had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than outsides of the windows. shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was death." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof answered with a sidelong glance. "The Cedars?" him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They fear." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." there is a decided draught." "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "Entirely." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord advice." "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "It is a murder, then?" were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by to-night's adventure." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "And Miss Sutherland?" "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "But what harm can there be in that?" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "'Where could I find him?' "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, of the way of danger. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of