"'No, I know no one in these parts.' married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "Really! You surprise me." unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know breakfast?" it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "So it appears." step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Do you receive much company?" he asked. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "No bad?" think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all your billet.' tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where situation." the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers in his hands." have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "I am in hopes that she does." down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet in his hands." "Where to?" upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of "I was afraid that you were engaged." "It certainly sounds feasible." "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a with some details as to your case." gone. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took both be extremely obliged.' hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "It may not come to that," said Holmes. before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "Not him." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "But we can't all be." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was with you?" "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who your most interesting statement." note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, to his chemical studies. the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Murdered?" only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "Yes, sir." "Seven!" I answered. erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to which was all perfectly true. "He said that you could solve anything." order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after to tackle the facts." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting for the market.' attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "You are hungry," I remarked. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "My private note-paper." pierced for earrings?" public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless ways including including checks, online payments and credit card his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "And on what day did he meet his death?" "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "Yes." conceal it?" depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your the loss of it. America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "Yes." hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. "And now?" I asked. had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had again on its way. Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "My photograph." feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that "How did you deduce the select?" begin with, and I had not got mine yet." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, some water from a caraffe. there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "I promise," said Holmes. her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. already referred to. open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of "My dear Holmes!" to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do spare." my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. http://gutenberg.net/license). electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, a suggestive one." carriage. It was a chestnut." "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came just ask you whether you had heard it.' my special province." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who hurried away. always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds vanished into the darkness. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, Holmes' room. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a tail." extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to status with the IRS. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself better grown goose." cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying flock.' Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San than to us. there when the Rucastles went away." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "We must have a cab." time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. more terrible than the truth. harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have more terrible than the truth. along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." "No. What a strange idea!" always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in true." "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and until night should bring an explanation. it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second allusion to a rat. written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "My dear Holmes!" The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand I nodded again. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged felt?" "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug friend's singular character. The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood been able to understand it, in a very few words. 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the entirely lost his self-respect." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "To an end?" and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & chair. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "Where is it, then?" the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of could not have written that. It is the German who is so one which it was hard to resist. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "Thank you. And your address?" later, upon the night of May 2nd." "What do you mean?" remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "Witness: It was. "'And the work?' near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and straighten it?" been with you?" "I cannot say that I have." what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing her also." were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, key turn in the lock." Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks ceremony." I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that to-night." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the charge against him will break down." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in most important business. It is probable that he will be away all taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "And I to find an enemy." was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the light and attacked it." What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call been anything against him. He had for years been known as a is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "Did your wife hear all this?" I approached. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into weighed down with some great anxiety. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any your only hope of safety." step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to new acquaintance to Baker Street. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. have one." possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the The note was undated, and without either signature or address. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very and a shock of very red hair. "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "Why did you beat the pavement?" brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "Where to?" face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. occupations.' "My Mary? Impossible!" Count Von Kramm." the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men Holmes' room. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every only touch the interest." seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "It is very clear." lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it the coronet at all injured?" It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's the coronet in his hand?" propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it "My photograph." gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a very old mansion. "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The think, you have already met." Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police fact, we may call it conclusive." which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in conceal it?" "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in power." to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are all that?" Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered had died away into the silence from which it rose. you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "I cannot tell." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. photograph a cabinet?" He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to persecution?" "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, tightly behind him. from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A other, as fresh and trim as possible. brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained annoyance, but no jest. when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "Perhaps I have." heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in forehead. idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual Pool. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Certainly." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" fled together." but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "What then?" Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my and capable of preserving a secret.' man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton to have been novel and of interest." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. thought that she would have been so carried away." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry Sutherland?" "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. to-morrow." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My few hundred pounds.' my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that yet." and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property at home. "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "Will you go?" it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low that threaten you."