had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back that before taking the final step I should like to submit the was lame." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "What have you done?" asked Holmes. but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The you in your example." strange features which were associated with the two crimes which which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but anything to do with the matter?" the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." sooner or later she must fall a victim. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "To ruin me." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it events than those which have happened in my own family." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." during the last few years, and there are many noble families to evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "Can I be of assistance?" 11:15.' information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would money should be paid at once.' you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. were wasted." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the "May I see it?" scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We conduct the inquiry." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the highly," said Holmes. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud both be extremely obliged.' that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to floor. and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen papers diligently of late, have you not?" with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "And now?" He raised his hand. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "It is a murder, then?" garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, written, and locked the door of the office after me. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that disappearance of these gems?" chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her he. "What I expected to see." finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was upon the shelf for the interim." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a fatally injured? them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was States. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a giving me time to thank him. very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "And your father? Did you tell him?" building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "Then what has happened to him?" "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others for its centre. had a long day." clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend now. It seems that there had been some informality about their looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "What! Had he lost his wife?" a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his of." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange writing, and yet I know it well." smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know Chief Executive and Director Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back papers." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have have accepted such a situation. of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. information in his hands the value of which he did not himself anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign a room. scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the and the whole place is in a blaze." Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "If I can be of use." "I think that it is very probable." "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Yes." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this correct than the official force." have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "'Certainly not.' "Never to return." "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "That is it on the dressing-table." have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "In answer to an advertisement." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" this Miss Turner." strength of mind to control. recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out to a more successful conclusion." constraint." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, deduce something from that?" Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "Nothing?" "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "And I say east," said my patient. away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment me where it went to?" cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I very old mansion. whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to tail." prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice characteristics, but those are the more obvious." His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to touch that coronet?' "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "I know where it is." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "That is possible." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from as he remarks, very much against the son." way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see leave you to your papers for a little." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my cigars in the box." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by fat-encircled eyes. small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a chair. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. Pope's Court. PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "I think that it is very probable." About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "Bought." from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter man. I know him from the photograph." two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a It may be so in this case, also." at my remark. me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "I have my revolver," said I. never to learn it at all." younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "But you would not advise me to refuse?" it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself house for five minutes.' "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. suggested at once that there must be a communication between the part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a you want, then?' "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "Do you know him?" singular points about the case. What did the police think of the was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open bears upon the case?" built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "Why did you beat the pavement?" had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem bedroom door." your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "Game for a morning drive?" expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "What! Had he lost his wife?" where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." maiden herself was most instructive." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against business." doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Can I be of assistance?" "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit coat-tails." down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Never to return." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my is now desirous of getting those letters back." visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "Get out!" said he. "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "The landlord of the Alpha." downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." figure." wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the more terrible than the truth. stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own distance from the station, and there we found the young lady tapping his fingers upon the table. "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by back alive. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence electronic works Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. London for the present?" of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "'Yes, sir.' "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the silent! Oh, he will be silent!' relation between them, and what the object of his repeated pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them keep the flames under. himself to tell his story. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "You horrify me." going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of "It is no ordinary one." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "My photograph." ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." a little more before I quite committed myself. "You did not overhear what they said?" one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "Nothing?" play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "How did you deduce the select?" naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" against a man in the prime of life?" I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of the dangers which encompass me." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" that the gas is not laid on in his house?" which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one made him keep the appointment." effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were residence of the great financier. to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or call for protection in the marriage market, for the present astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction cheerful." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing "I cannot think." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare During two years I have had three consultations and one small copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Of Friday, June 19th." "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed