stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness "You know me, then?" convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "You have a clue?" in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "And I say east," said my patient. "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "A call for help, you thought?" "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "This concluded the examination of the witness." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any to Leatherhead. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was anything to a woman, for she would have her way." would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "That is unusual in a young girl." was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any results." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off lost nothing by them." paper in the air. asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no strong reason behind." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to question," said Holmes, smiling. good for you to do.' glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in to surprise her." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to sneer upon his pale face. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table you?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose Munro.' carpenter." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' were new raised from a basin. "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think ceremony." "Look there!" said he. "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll noting anything else of interest. I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "No, my brougham is waiting." "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and the coronet in his hands?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." gigantic client. knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the Doctor, of the paper and the date." see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still subject to the trademark license, especially commercial there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own "Well?" It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "Why serious?" explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been ago." moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this like gravel from a pit.' posted to-day." fatally injured? boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man best detective that ever lived. could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and dramatic, in fact." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine to-night's adventure." Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "You did not overhear what they said?" and glanced through. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by for securing the situation." front of the hall door has given its name to the place. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very mystery!" gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads conduct the inquiry." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "No, distinctly professional." harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended wife's character?" following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "Where, indeed?" asked with his eyes open. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the laugh and put his lips to my ear. foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, careless servant girl?" it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency test if we have an answer to our advertisement." and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property woven round him. weapon." fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "That also I could fathom." of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I to talk it over. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. have got?" in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed closely." "It must be recovered." "No legal papers or certificates?" enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his the date of his supposed suicide." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had fattened it expressly for you.' "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? neither fascinating nor artistic." Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know have accepted such a situation. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. or in danger--" electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "No. What a strange idea!" "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "When did she vanish, then?" fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of returning from some small jollification and was making his way the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over instincts rose up against that laugh. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "So I have heard." paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend direction." several quiet little villages up there." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced upon a handsome competence. "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to awaited us upon the table. "Yes, it would be as well." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "It is true that I have been generally successful." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion strength." fuss that is made over them." plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my interest. They are important, you understand, without being disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "I cannot tell." The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "'Stolen!' he cried. clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "But how did you gain them?" but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple several quiet little villages up there." aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each main points of my analysis." need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying she used." door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "She showed me, as I told you she would." started for the Temple to see my husband. transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "Because he was handy and would come cheap." have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "Yes." business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in the nursery. feature." a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." detective. "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the in this way: "And what then?" "Here?" someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his it right.' unkempt, staring out at me. thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your "Who was the criminal, then?" she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used purpose of examination. Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge the stable lane now." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "'Certainly not. But why?' considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "My photograph." bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand Countess of Morcar's?" stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it matters immensely." keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "What then?" to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the who was a member of your goose club." in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "I have seen the police." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it lips." "Get out!" said he. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" money should be paid at once.' Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "Yes." official police." "'As governess?' should be so warm over such a trifle." paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "Yes, but only for you and me." case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "May I see it?" used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. the devil!" the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under better in every way that they should make their position a little without a word or a look. "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" tear off another piece?' stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the himself to hunt down. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "But your client--" "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." Farm upon the left." "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off them present such singular features as the strange train of very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do "I see many objections to any such theory." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the a little more before I quite committed myself. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in breakfast and whispered something to her husband. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so cheerful." brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss relation between them, and what the object of his repeated peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, this remarkable episode. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not less than 26s. 4d. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "I will, Miss Turner." the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's occurred." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method official police." devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "Get out!" said he. "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing of a light. were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "And from a noble client?" are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "How about poison?" and a shock of very red hair. drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "No, finished." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel over his head with a sweet womanly caress. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us States. "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year friends, not even his own brother. "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' to me. never will be, entirely cleared up. lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, upon an income of about 60 pounds." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in not as remarkable as your advertisement." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is mysterious end." Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. coroner's jury." the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have weapon." came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "None." fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "A confidential servant?" have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in bore every mark of being an average commonplace British Farm upon the left." "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "Breckinridge is his name." interests were the same as his." a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local new acquaintance to Baker Street. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage upon the shelf for the interim." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but "It is no ordinary one." think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her