there were so many in the whole country as were brought together where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. deduce something from that?" your troubles." another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "Your sister is dead, then?" turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out Holmes." these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "No, my brougham is waiting." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the was shining brightly. detective. "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce hopeless attempt at recovering them." the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man with her." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, trying to your nerves." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "Yes, but only for you and me." The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he the best of training." tell me that you intended to go into harness." Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, it." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man prisoner's face. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "You forget that I know nothing about it." in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime which was all perfectly true. trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." questionable one." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to of your young ladies.' from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB to change my dress. greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no I approached. Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of not, dad?" she asked. send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: records." vague figure huddled up in the darkness. and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his keep the flames under. "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the crowd. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our of the vacancies.' time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Frequently." Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "He is dead," cried several voices. the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "'Very good.' the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "Game for a morning drive?" works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Edgeware Road. quick march!" battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "He is dead," cried several voices. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "How long did she speak to this Alice?" back alive. fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "May I see it?" "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our little adventures." "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "Why did you beat the pavement?" "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a his forehead." the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been breakfast." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his cheerful." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "I cannot as yet see any connection." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but His smile broadened. sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. him to go away.' he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Dark enough and sinister enough." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the garden below. here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the hour." money should be paid at once.' "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that enter Dr. Roylott's room." business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. "Deserted you?" drove away. mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was written, and locked the door of the office after me. provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them walking." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have companion. me. It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been the dangers which encompass me." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of it means?" of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "Breckinridge is his name." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I Holmes. little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." here and I will read it to you: on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened "'Yes, I promise.' human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the upon an income of about 60 pounds." cheerful." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the carried out of court." confronted him. "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the strength." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind one of them." the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "How often?" "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's his cane at the bell-pull. can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My voice. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of of them has the shutters up.' that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "And how have you succeeded?" we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to McCarthy's innocence. "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Certainly." "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "I never have." clanging. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, wedding?" lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! handed it to him. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can the very morning of the wedding." understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since questioning and rather startled gaze. attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "But to whom?" should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "'Yes, sir.' I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I without a word or a look. "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me system of imprisonment?" from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any Holmes rather sternly. of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a used to be." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "Ah!" maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any had died away into the silence from which it rose. hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. to go into your room and bar your shutters?" side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the second." provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should and effective." do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less comes from the middle window." "'Most admirably.' was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "I should wish to." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the had picked up in the wood. headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an beg that you will break it off." Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all not fit the lock." go back?" as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "And when will you call?" Where does the thing come from?' "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "Your French gold?" 11:15.' maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose three of the beryls in it, was missing. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police said I. as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "What is it, then--a fire?" sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. orange pips. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "Then you may be so with me." that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is pity, because in other respects you would really have done very that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap said he. "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a at my own good fortune. paper in the air. with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the Dr. Gregory B. Newby Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. business?" o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." crowd. "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a to a more successful conclusion." journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press bell. Holmes whistled. - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "At the wedding breakfast." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." touch that coronet?' coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the night.' said he. There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, in. "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the other means.' it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not giving me time to thank him. you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "'You cannot say what it was?' "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and disappearance of the bride.'" extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something shall use the carriage to-night." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, Sutherland. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "Thank you. And your address?" "The landlord of the Alpha." situation." "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "Ten will be early enough." a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of easy-going way." one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover out of this horrible affair." "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his swore that no one else had been in the front room during the before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full even so self-evident a thing as that." business matters.' "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "And what then?" received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to train.' I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where over part of the map. "What do you read?" carpenter." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and memory.