hair?' connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "Yes." "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table at once, for I have only half an hour." "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her had picked up in the wood. down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "It came here." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest what these perils are?" "Imitated." "That is unusual in a young girl." the warnings." them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of situation." four million human beings all jostling each other within the "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must to that open window." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we through." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "Then, as to money?" "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, disturbance in my wife." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the some water from a caraffe. said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock I nodded again. is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." not as remarkable as your advertisement." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "What do you mean?" have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "Then, how do you know?" that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. go back?" "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "None." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, "Yes." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and dear old homesteads?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "In the cells." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened papers must be those that are destroyed.' footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus chemical work which was so dear to him. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return ventilator." round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to went to the Alpha were town bred." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "No." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "'Where to?' We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered him to be an active member of the medical profession." staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have house for five minutes.' to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the It may be so in this case, also." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' felt the room to be a little close.' I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into IS Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely what these perils are?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly the best of training." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in have one." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital when your master had gone out." "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of in this way: "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very eat it." mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic of Mr. Rucastle's." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" and have this put in the evening papers." "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found waste of energy." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" felt the room to be a little close.' serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "Can I be of assistance?" his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking never will be, entirely cleared up. "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after young Openshaw's." the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap cost them two and thirty pounds." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone is entirely a question of barometric pressure." your sleep?' extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "But not more so than I to find you." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. more solid." both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent such person." certainly not very gracious." deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong Cross for the Continent." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "Pray be precise as to details," said he. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better occurred." clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave feature." home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be Holmes." "You have carte blanche." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. obstinate." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." have established a very serious case against the son of the "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" whether it answered to the description of any of their cost them two and thirty pounds." dramatic, in fact." beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "Yes." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. IS writer." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my the date of his supposed suicide." "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." During two years I have had three consultations and one small you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to quite distinctive." compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Yes." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the acquaintance?" "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "Where is it, then?" through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" awkward doing business with an alias." envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias troubles have been weighing upon his mind. Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "'Yes, sir.' then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon asked. is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "'Yes.' business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An one or two very singular points about this room. For example, into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "No. His orders were to stay in the house." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "I cannot tell." corner of the building. a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's will not take me long to tell. "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the undoubtedly my uncle's." Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." your Highness to the police-station?" object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and was shining brightly. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I stood on the top of it. Countess of Morcar's?" in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from just called myself is not exactly my own." Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up said he. "'Tell me all about it,' said I. writer." handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it use an arc-and-compass breastpin." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "And why in hopes?" "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is shoulder. all that?" have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, the running down." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "But the mystery?" nights." astonishment. allusion to a rat. its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into This is what he says: upon a handsome competence. explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "In the cells." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: emerged. "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "'Where to?' breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" three of the beryls in it, was missing. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "And the murderer?" "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version through." unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the morning." by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Come in!" said Holmes. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." miles off. have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have official police." doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. success. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening the roots. "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "She walked into the breakfast-room." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." galvanised. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very status with the IRS. "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "And your mother is alive?" "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. some water from a caraffe. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be prison!" seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such see me here to avoid scandal." suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "No good news?" Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of Sutherland?" is entirely a question of barometric pressure." Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "I have solved it." grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, the Red-headed League." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." "Yes, the wine-cellar." all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. quick march!" and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "Then, as to money?" what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a