appeared upon the scene." "I should like to see him very much." affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are brought there to personate someone, and the real person is see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his father's young wife. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "Do you receive much company?" he asked. me where it went to?" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your spark where all is dark to me." "Perhaps I have." question," said Holmes, smiling. statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "You are certainly joking, Holmes." believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Yes." questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made "Nothing." side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to infinite languor in his face. do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this noise which awoke you from your sleep?" building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "How many? I don't know." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes goes." on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried as this. Pray let me have the details." "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. nice household for a young lady." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we present." "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "Will you bet, then?" them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the that "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have imbecility!" he cried. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single down. your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "What! a murderous attack?" fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three this poor creature." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no British peeress.'" of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "'Why that?' I asks. chair. the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO been shamefully used." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Yes, it would be as well." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "Your sister is dead, then?" have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, not personally threatened." "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and the nursery. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily speckled band?" of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "To the police?" and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "I fear not." seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the coroner's jury." "Then, as to money?" Lestrade of Scotland Yard." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to tell him that I know him to be innocent." total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send other, as fresh and trim as possible. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, about here speaks of his kindness to him." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. the child." there was no need for father to know." "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free infinite languor in his face. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "Then I am your man." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." the side-table." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. "And you thought he was pulled back?" hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. back to my heart. himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are woman." he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. was already answered. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then and put his glass in his pocket. which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." call the police, let the police find what they can.' thought that she would have been so carried away." building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. him to go away.' "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any come either from the window or the door. My attention was arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, Countess of Morcar's?" "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "I cannot tell." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of orange pips. This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock sneer upon his pale face. assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as present strange and interesting features that it is no easy brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every been shamefully used." pound a week." pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a him nearly every evening." me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been as the one I chose?' of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Ah!" my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his compunction about shooting them down." "'There is a drive, then?' "No sign of it?" harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the to miss it." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly and files of the old papers, following the future career of every have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Yes." "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would grasp, he hurried from the room. "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All "But you were on a friendly footing?" "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely was a lad." shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "One of the highest in England." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of papers must be those that are destroyed.' summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," present." so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "There are none." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "The Coroner: What do you mean? part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were there has been an enclosure here!" to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he at home. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" heavy and sharp instrument." "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, in your London, you will know that the office of the company is it." the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall to take care of herself." soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "Did your wife hear all this?" the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the spark where all is dark to me." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "You have the photograph?" the driver. occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start upon an income of about 60 pounds." waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful that, and I came down." coroner's jury." the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must me. You must get home instantly and act." think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." conclusions. has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying good for you to do.' wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through upon a handsome competence. seen the man in the road." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "No. What a strange idea!" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the me have 200 pounds?' "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "But he might be a bachelor." human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. always that they were such commands as a lady might with for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one cigar and let me expound." what is your own theory as to what took place?" "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "Well?" forehead. she might be summoned. of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with the bed, and you in that chair." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, my secret was safe in his possession. "Did you become engaged then?" daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project "Then you may entirely rely on me." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in call it cruel." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "I fear not." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I directors, with the result that you have seen." hurried by. there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our into the bag, and made for the door. work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in useful material for showing traces. The double line a little if she died from some sudden fright." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one over part of the map. "What do you read?" for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the developed." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "I have hopes." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad made him keep the appointment." force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging think that any burglar could have done. http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds cigar and let me expound." "But you were on a friendly footing?" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, and your relations to her." above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to place no limit on the sum I may draw." "'Yes, I promise.' must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Witness: Nothing definite. "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "What are they?" "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "Of Friday, June 19th." makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. important." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Come in!" said he. the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even "No, but the enclosure is." "And I to find an enemy." do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "It is solved." "'Stolen!' he cried. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these conversation I have gathered that they have been married about And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I Holmes' thin, eager face. destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A of note-paper. It read in this fashion: time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "Did you observe the colour?" "Proceed, then." I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied that I can to serve you." "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." advice." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the