"Was your sister dressed?" though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; tell me that you intended to go into harness." glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in even of instruction." to a more successful conclusion." "You are hungry," I remarked. "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission The King stared at him in amazement. and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, at a side door. the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think gone before you can get him to hospital." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "I should wish to." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a the nursery. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of clang of the bell. spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton get her out of the way." observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most relation between them, and what the object of his repeated "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Well, some hundreds of times." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "Stolen." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the the salesman. tapping his fingers upon the table. vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not John Swain, of St. Augustine. entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, to tackle the facts." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "I would pay ten." was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day lips." "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman one else, I think." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "Oh, the cause is excellent!" rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste him, that man would not have given me such complete information Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and the house with me." "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "And I to find an enemy." exactly what you advise." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a business." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their envelope. better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite have accepted such a situation. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be too. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I whether it answered to the description of any of their son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with been." case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are colonel looking down at me. house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass had picked up in the wood. have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite status with the IRS. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, "Game for a morning drive?" "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty his fortune, and I went back to pa. smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. forbidden door. we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his nonsense.' strong reason behind." that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, the salesman. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are dramatic, in fact." side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which photograph?" "So I heard. You have him here?" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather exactly what you advise." twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, get the tickets." in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "Very much so." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the better grown goose." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the over with notes and figures. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. pound a week." or other trace. But how on earth--" you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you the ceiling. present." bachelor.' morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has points in connection with it which never have been, and probably little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies married her." a room. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. there in twenty minutes." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" will be renamed. "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. voice, changing her seat as requested. didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The my former friend and companion. so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than extraordinary contortions. unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to take care of herself." be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old in his power. "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "You did not overhear what they said?" what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of not use it unless it is absolutely needed." understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to that, and I came down." ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "And that is--" it means?" case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "'Oh, no.' and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "It is very clear." about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Now, then, what's the last entry?" said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "The decline of his fortunes, then?" which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "So I have heard." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air presume?" including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "And you don't know his address?" "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "We must have a cab." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the villagers almost as much as their master. there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, answer." "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have the matter?" repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and do.' "Yes." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "And what then?" refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private was used.' of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, joking. WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant details should find their way into the papers. Inspector you came in." on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing me. "You were travelling in the States?" "'Very good.' "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these 'I should be able to look after that for you.' been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without into her hand at the door and which lured her within their beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put in a friendly supper." truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. have one." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence that he will be back before evening." little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "To an English lawyer named Norton." one of them." even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "'And the work?' plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my evidence," I remarked. first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "Only as much as we can deduce." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a again on its way. "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! derbies." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the spark where all is dark to me." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been "Precisely." here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute key of the affair now." her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Eyford." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty round and wave him away like that.' himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "And how did you verify them?" fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for like gravel from a pit.' such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. him nearly every evening." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "Did your wife hear all this?" "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the never came back." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to that giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been and glanced through. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "Yes, certainly." you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter copied or distributed: It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Absolutely?" large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a look dissatisfied." unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "Yes, certainly." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "Yes, only one." what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only had formerly been in part my own. not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had crackling voice. "It certainly sounds feasible." post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through hopeless attempt at recovering them." relief. is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of clanging. through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "Yes, it would be as well." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "A client, then?" "Nothing?" "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, chamber." more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The redistribution. With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I throat." fait accompli?" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "BALLARAT." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up ourselves in the office." "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock characteristics, but those are the more obvious." the very letters. But what is this written above them?' heavy and sharp instrument." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, think that any burglar could have done. License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual