whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." Again Holmes raved in the air. sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had sake, don't!" "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." obstinate." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "I have hopes." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting examine." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my your Highness to the police-station?" from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but morning." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." manager. "Very much so." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum noble correspondent could be. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "You have carte blanche." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed my little problems." the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them remarked. breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "You don't mind breaking the law?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "She told me to ask you." while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the note?" weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "Yes." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "To an English lawyer named Norton." servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds province." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest "On the contrary, this is the right side." so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" cigars in their mouths. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "My opinion is in no way altered." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." answer." his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of 1.E.9. volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "A confidential servant?" an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you you do it in twenty minutes!' adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "In heaven's name, what for?" soul! here is her carriage at the door." promised to bring home. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "You horrify me." "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, sooner or later she must fall a victim. "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "When did she vanish, then?" "Was she in good spirits?" massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through in a friendly supper." points to suicide?" colour had been driven from his face. and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is a room. misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "Well, but China?" "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your the stable lane now." after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had murdered man." surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his Holmes rather sternly. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked was used.' the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she room. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "To the police?" upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, strong reason behind." but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for interested in these little problems, and since you are good same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "I cannot imagine." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have that the gas is not laid on in his house?" have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further 'please.'" week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. meant." the very morning of the wedding." "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. the general public were present, then?" had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only for and were ordered to this address. have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "I have solved it." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor the stones. right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged humiliation." I shall continue with my miserable story. "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened cigar and let me expound." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. matter." "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "Will you bet, then?" "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "'Why that?' I asks. "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish whether it answered to the description of any of their cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." what these perils are?" "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and himself to tell his story. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "That is also quite modern," said the lady. is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the kind enough to tell me what I should do." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "Breckinridge is his name." unprofitable." before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. house for five minutes.' "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. best detective that ever lived. had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work guilty one." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and he died? agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back if she died from some sudden fright." he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to "And on what day did he meet his death?" Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "It is his hat." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every during the last few years, and there are many noble families to within hail.' "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "Of what?" "Yes, but only for you and me." seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when Project Gutenberg-tm works. "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. that you can jump it.' Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular weary and pale-looking. that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found get her out of the way." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ words came to my lips. upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, entirely lost his self-respect." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." father's young wife. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately Does that suggest anything?" "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "Of what?" could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' fat-encircled eyes. dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "Always." "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, emerged. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said again." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid place of silver." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through had picked up in the wood. several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. friends, not even his own brother. Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to head. So long, then!" judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "We must sit without light. He would see it through the could not account in any way for the presence of the missing circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared The King stared at him in amazement. suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking I was concerned in it." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in "Dirty?" man. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, Lestrade of Scotland Yard." from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much did not hear it also.' I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, British peeress.'" read it out to me." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The door?" handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of gone before you can get him to hospital." line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Why, it's a dummy," said he. suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "No." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was on in his house." at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." guilty parties." suspect him." "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "I am about to be married." said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of awaited us upon the table. Holmes." investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, was shining brightly. Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "By all means." hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "Witness: Nothing definite. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I himself in a perplexing position. "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming His smile broadened. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the see a sister of mine apply for." of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "But I have heard all that you have heard." seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were than to us. which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He you in yours." at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "Yes." with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "What do you mean?" send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "His face fell immediately. wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an their singular warning or token before them when starting upon about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been possible that we could bring him back to her? as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "Yes." bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her