the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "I warn you that they are very incomplete." over here." pound a week." Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "And you don't know his address?" unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning British peeress.'" was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "But she will refuse." to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing What do you deduce from it?" Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, empty. "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall impression behind it as though a window had gently closed my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' in this note: thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is your most interesting statement." may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some joking. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a again, where I was soon asleep. more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong You can understand that this register and diary may implicate I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk new duties?' "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "On the contrary, this is the right side." squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely clanging. we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. posted to-day." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is there were one or two details which were new to me. But the assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "This concluded the examination of the witness." framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "Then the page we have seen--" years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself important." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "Why serious?" "You saw the ventilator, too?" might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out kind enough to tell me what I should do." "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "And what did you learn from him?" "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand I held the little printed slip to the light. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared it were putty." and inquire as to the address." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "Then the page we have seen--" endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my head. So long, then!" who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "Nearly eleven." his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey leave you to your papers for a little." "Were they all fastened this morning?" "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "I will do it." eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the villagers almost as much as their master. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great him!" unprecedented a position." out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a "9th. McCauley cleared. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond photograph a cabinet?" Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "From his hat?" o'clock is it?" one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "I do." "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at south, for the country is more deserted there." down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly legal crime." I think that I could be of assistance to you." so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. good-night and bustled off upon her way. "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his bedroom door." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high and I shall be with you presently." have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and fuss that is made over them." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Yes, certainly." waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. particular state visit http://pglaf.org think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the that there was nothing in it, after all." playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "How about poison?" "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. the side-table." were new raised from a basin. That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "Always." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. national property. I was determined that the law should have its strong reason behind." weary and pale-looking. "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "Pray let us have it, for all that." that you wished to speak to me?' "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "Yes." "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' woman who has had her own way to make in the world. butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's again." for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an "But it has twice been burgled." Clair, of Lee." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "No." together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" copied or distributed: hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was your own bird, so if you wish--" what I may call a really hard day's work." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." God! What an exposure! What can I do?" London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "I am all attention, madam." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "In which, sir?" they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same said I. "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be fashion which was peculiar to him. "'Very good.' "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of what these perils are?" flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked asked. her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "The murder was done with it." "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "I am all attention, madam." in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable which we had just quitted. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: already referred to. instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards felt the room to be a little close.' a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Well, it is a possible supposition." penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that call for protection in the marriage market, for the present as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "I am to be neutral?" "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as My friend smiled. but preventing her from injuring another. shoulder. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been is acting for the best. questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a not within a twentieth part of the market price." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," shoulder. receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the will he say when he returns?" no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "Quite so. She has her freedom." "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "That is also quite modern," said the lady. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a humiliation." James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. "VIOLET HUNTER." which our visitor detailed to us. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance himself. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the Literary Archive Foundation but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the Munro.' time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, populous neighbourhood." forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "Then I am your man." "No." it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "It is half-past ten now." really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "'Yes, I promise.' in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, I approached. see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and I was concerned in it." be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. License. You must require such a user to return or "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but enter Dr. Roylott's room." really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture happened." impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and enter Dr. Roylott's room." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "Was she in good spirits?" "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "And when will you call?" no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which happened." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "And who is her maid?" ourselves in the office." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no The King stared at him in amazement. from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." legal crime." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to the coronet in his hand?" routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten "Married! When?" stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the as he folded up the epistle. to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who man. I know him from the photograph." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the in. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his fire. You quite follow me?" and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. bird of prey. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," forbidden door. "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." his forehead." "'I am sure that I do not know.' "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "It missed him, then?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the Foundation made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the away into the river." "The murder was done with it." "I assure you that I am in your hands." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six any." police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn