said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "Yes, certainly." "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem gone before you can get him to hospital." you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you "Then I shall certainly come." settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of three of the beryls in it, was missing. him, that man would not have given me such complete information ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "What is it, then--a fire?" hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "But not more so than I to find you." thought that she would have been so carried away." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "I have a cab outside." "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a might help us?" push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, The telegram which we eventually received came late one night possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "Could he throw no light?" robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "I am about to be married." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying had a long day." through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their "Never." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "It is solved." "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "A confidential servant?" "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I future lives." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Well, some hundreds of times." the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a I was concerned in it." Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "'I have already given you my word.' taking in every detail of the apartment. explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the there when the Rucastles went away." "And help." present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled it." bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'You doubt its value?' he asked. We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its floor. hurried by. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "What, then, did Peterson do?" way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "My photograph." gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "Deserted you?" his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, strong and stiff." "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are used to be." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "And how did you verify them?" preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I that he has suffered." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite there when the Rucastles went away." "What then?" down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "In San Francisco, a year ago." "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I flock.' sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it crime." however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at some terrible trap for her." again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, the bottom.' "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window unclasping of his long thin hands. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his sentimental considerations in the background which would induce business." his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he until night should bring an explanation. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had Have you good authority for what you say?" the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." fear." "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "Was there a secret marriage?" the driver. Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand gone before you can get him to hospital." "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project his cane at the bell-pull. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have skylight. down in his armchair and closing his eyes. chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my him." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you whereabouts. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to outside." been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from gone. Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "Indeed! Whose, then?" lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a already referred to. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your narrative." Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened to some other building. have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "That is also quite modern," said the lady. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his it? Did I buy the geese off you?" your billet.' the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "Not in a good cause." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who way: "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Why did you beat the pavement?" someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: "Nothing?" mysterious business." it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have which should have the effect of calling the attention of the much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. very peculiar words of the dying woman?" feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' "Then how many are there?" A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey forebodings. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "'I have already given you my word.' About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several the coronet in his hand?" at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." walking." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I character. "You have a clue?" All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom him nearly every evening." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous was used.' "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and weigh very heavily upon my conscience." was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "'And the work?' could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly in him." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question there." way: paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life had a long day." I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our crime." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he your own bird, so if you wish--" you for a few hours?" "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming true." front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had your co-operation." the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What trying to your nerves." habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped Have you good authority for what you say?" conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated it." The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate four million human beings all jostling each other within the Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, lamp in his hand. that threaten you." "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. overpowering excitement and concern. every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to neither fascinating nor artistic." Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "Whose house is it?" reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the brandy and water within his reach. the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost felt?" postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its allusion to a rat. tell them apart.' possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "At what time?" met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save problems help me to do so." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that Munro.' I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate deduce something from that?" "And I say east," said my patient. hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips ourselves in the office." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside place no limit on the sum I may draw." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a visitors." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Very murderous indeed." LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." October 9, 1890. hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled "Oh, fresh and glossy." d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five my secret was safe in his possession. years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her hand, madam?" shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were and looked back. paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor past. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. the little opening for the ventilator is." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire help us in this matter." severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "One horse?" interjected Holmes. London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his shag which I had seen upon the previous night. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' even so self-evident a thing as that." "Then you may entirely rely on me." "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." or in danger--" "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the before, for it was considerably after midnight. your only hope of safety." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' be sorry for having acted so harshly." should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Ah, but I was recommended to you." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his generous with you in money matters.' c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "By all means." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "And why?" "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "I see no marks." "That is not always so easy." counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "But you have hopes?" The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in his forehead." he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came foot. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "It is true that I have been generally successful." "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "'I am sure that I do not know.' justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "By train from Waterloo." "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "Come in!" said Holmes. young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "Then what has happened to him?" assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "Which are?" London for the present?" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "'I have already given you my word.' "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "Yes." peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that ways of our fellow-men." many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains could not account in any way for the presence of the missing was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "But it has twice been burgled." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." main points of my analysis." connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very