a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a lamp in his hand. fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "And it is--" "It is possible." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me assist you in forming an opinion." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears "I assure you that I am in your hands." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I noise which awoke you from your sleep?" which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are that "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." extraordinary contortions. arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are there!' "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "Yes." "There are none." took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "BALLARAT." "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "Nothing." low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to hopeless attempt at recovering them." flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that the warnings." with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, went to the Alpha were town bred." cheerful." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the beg that you will break it off." chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "Nothing?" you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it the inner apartment." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so the station." charge against him will break down." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "Yes, there are nearly always some there." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the quickly through a disagreeable task. "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and tension within him. The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, sit on the left-hand side of the driver." be.' absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he eat it." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a fire. You quite follow me?" answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, his fortune, and I went back to pa. "Yes." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a Eyford at 11:15.' said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "A client, then?" "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** "I am sure." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the The events in question occurred in the early days of my "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture the date of his supposed suicide." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not hereditary King of Bohemia." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "Where, then?" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and your equipment. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "Not particularly." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." gone. "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, husband's writing, madam." Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and was a perfect sample of the class. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully sufficient punishment." gives a meaning to it." that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the closely." my former friend and companion. estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, guilty one." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "'Where could I find him?' it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" events, Mr. Windibank!" introspective fashion. liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "I will try. What is it?" nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the charge against him will break down." us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "What are they?" poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "'You doubt its value?' he asked. should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be been with you?" wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous 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 after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, your own bird, so if you wish--" I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the which we had just quitted. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards business matters.' there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "That is also quite modern," said the lady. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "But who is he?" someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "Then the page we have seen--" feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort 1.E.9. 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "One of his hands." His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Will you go?" out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed seven miles from Eyford Station.' "I am in hopes that she does." more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have hard-headed British jury." even so self-evident a thing as that." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, row." "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' and glanced through. "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated chamber." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "And why?" lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold there were so many in the whole country as were brought together and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the that he will be back before evening." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "She told me to ask you." in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it became a certainty. the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for written. lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism closely." one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman Holmes." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: questioning and rather startled gaze. trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting national property. I was determined that the law should have its "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "How did he come?" "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, round with crates and massive boxes. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "'Is 4 pounds a week.' *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the served to weaken the effect. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. said I. as yours." bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors brain must have something in it." His name is Francis Prosper." put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "My dear Holmes!" furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked and capable of preserving a secret.' of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "I have solved it." "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "Was there a secret marriage?" suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "'As governess?' his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account DAMAGE. outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your on re-entering her father's house?" his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "Yes, only one." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. DISSOLVED. "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, and files of the old papers, following the future career of every upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for introspective fashion. that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of row." down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, seen the man in the road." "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "It is very kind of you." robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He ceremony." go from here to the Strand." rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with the warnings." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a tightly behind him. silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of would then never go into court at all." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "What steps will you take?" I asked. stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "But you were on a friendly footing?" electronic works old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the held up the lantern and gazed about him. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and his knees, staring into the fire. "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "Your presence might be invaluable." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always sentimental considerations in the background which would induce "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, one which it was hard to resist. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Will you go?" grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, congenial hunt. might have a private word with us. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in 'I should be able to look after that for you.' the running down." certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "And did you observe any change in her then?" it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it grasp, he hurried from the room. attention." Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an strode off upon his way. brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master whatever might befall. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "And what then?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "I see no marks." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not should be taken.' "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my suspect him." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would case-book, which he consulted. "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "Where to?" against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." Surrey." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. miles off. "What steps will you take?" I asked. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "How did he come?" of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." sentimental considerations in the background which would induce his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge was a lad." the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old closely." accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. call for it in person on Monday morning.' size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I cheerful." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary main points of my analysis." did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." jewels which you have stolen?' again on its way. really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid