Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one know that the truth is known." he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. there has been an enclosure here!" death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your felt?" of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he despaired of." fact, we may call it conclusive." a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's sneer upon his pale face. her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was what these perils are?" very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "That also I could fathom." description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "I will do it." Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be money should be paid at once.' was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. vanished into the darkness. could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across bonnet, and went out." felt the room to be a little close.' "Nothing?" with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "'I am sure that I do not know.' think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It My friend smiled. voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I individual and becomes the badge of a society." a room. "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Then I do not see the point." It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong to take care of herself." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back was not a bird to be seen there. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be cigars in their mouths. "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old she to prove their authenticity?" "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a Pope's Court. wedding?" "'Stolen!' he cried. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "'You doubt its value?' he asked. before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "And I." opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we events than those which have happened in my own family." foresight and the moral retrogression?" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some mysterious business." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "Yes." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking test if we have an answer to our advertisement." eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where is now desirous of getting those letters back." pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one vague figure huddled up in the darkness. him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "'Yes, I promise.' delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "And on what day did he meet his death?" sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "So I heard. You have him here?" letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal for and were ordered to this address. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "There are none." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a four million human beings all jostling each other within the "Where to?" together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small you?' spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one events, Mr. Windibank!" "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here to-morrow." chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't you." Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few advice." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan the armchair which I pushed forward for him. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not helping a boy to put up the shutters. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered shag which I had seen upon the previous night. of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose "Were they all fastened this morning?" been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "Perhaps I have." mysterious business." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the fishes. Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Very murderous indeed." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "The murder was done with it." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "Yes." same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an strength of mind to control. jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "Murdered?" the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by brandy and water within his reach. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Then I can wait in the next room." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "'And what salary do you ask?' "None. Neville wrote those words." and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." fear." people in all walks of life. enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, Sholtos." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in appointment with me for six o'clock?" It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment man. week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "Yes, it would be as well." He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "No sign of it?" leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied Edgeware Road. and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down me. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "What of the rat, then?" "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "No, distinctly professional." the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old prove to be little relation between the different incidents of did not hear it also.' could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "How did he come?" "Yes, only one." what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very thirty. have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a business." Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the that I am arrested." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional the date of his supposed suicide." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass all that?" already referred to. "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "It is true that I have been generally successful." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most three fields round his house, and there he would take his I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which the dangers which encompass me." its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "I should be immensely obliged to you." "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of friends, not even his own brother. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "'Very good.' of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" beg that you will break it off." "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in quite distinctive." data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself "You know me, then?" "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the For additional contact information: "The Cedars?" us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you take the flies, but not before." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all Clair, of Lee." ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Pope's Court, Fleet Street." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "Very truly yours, terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? mystery may be cleared along those lines." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately certainly do as you advise." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "I shall be delighted." Miss Holder?" you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to bearing upon the case." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to a good hundred miles off by now." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': companion. Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can appeared upon the scene." rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and II. it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at you give your casting vote to?" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little from you?" eat it." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "We have tried and failed." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the handed it to him. the devil!" "Oh, the cause is excellent!" but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a all that?" With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a think that any burglar could have done. breakfast." reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was out." him and tried to hold him back. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "I am still in the dark." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of looking up at the numbers of the houses." hereditary King of Bohemia." a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "ARAT," I read. "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, II. he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "You have compromised yourself seriously." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and the armchair which I pushed forward for him. past. advice." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and http://gutenberg.net/license). "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes the bed, and you in that chair." lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "Then he might have called to you?" "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me upon a handsome competence. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "If so, much may have happened between." already been minutely examined." and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "'What do you call purely nominal?' "No, but the enclosure is." me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were was a lad." without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "And how in the world did you find them?" walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "Certainly." "Yes." set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in foot. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening the dangers which encompass me." "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "What is it, then--a fire?" be. was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord placed his cuttings. autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a sake, don't!" of." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For you found me to-night--and running through the front room she reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and she slowly sank and died without having recovered her time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "Yes, the wine-cellar." which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, and files of the old papers, following the future career of every as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New again, where I was soon asleep. not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the for and were ordered to this address. "I am still in the dark." play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the your bag." the date of his supposed suicide." family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, of the efforts of the United States government and of the better see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and lips." hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "And did you observe any change in her then?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the fled together." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. me. You must get home instantly and act." complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort walking." through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "No." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of felt?" authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table.