promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to again on its way. the salesman. a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous questioning and rather startled gaze. ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "You horrify me." "Who by?" anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices despair." subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came taking in every detail of the apartment. husband's writing, madam." besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it with the outside air!" married her." continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his any more." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been sofa. This way, please!" research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do in this note: them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was 'I should be able to look after that for you.' my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can passage and a tap at the door. pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble because she had spent so short a time in this country that she vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about could go. delighted to hear it," he said. the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous the south-west, I see." noting anything else of interest. protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so Sutherland. of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to was a perfect sample of the class. his face which made him a very different person to the round, Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to Miss Holder?" wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." suddenly upon us." "And leave your case unfinished?" The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "But I am all in the dark." 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "That is easily got." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and spare." wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "And you thought he was pulled back?" either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been been anything against him. He had for years been known as a the King without delay." coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "'Is 4 pounds a week.' law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "'Is purely nominal.' bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "'A dozen yards or so.' ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet companion. overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "And I." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the business." side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the knowledge of the world." banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He Farm upon the left." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "'Very good.' collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "9th. McCauley cleared. peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the questioning and rather startled gaze. you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a answered with a sidelong glance. painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "10th. John Swain cleared. "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by one which it was hard to resist. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "How do you know, then?" "'As governess?' surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I burst out into a roar of laughter. this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Yes, it would be as well." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any new acquaintance to Baker Street. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "A thing like a cleaver," said he. continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "No, distinctly professional." pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "I say it is." "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the best detective that ever lived. "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "And why?" "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your breakfast." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "This concluded the examination of the witness." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny "Witness: I must still refuse. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "What then?" This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall she slowly sank and died without having recovered her would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly prison!" he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of the date of his supposed suicide." wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable colour had been driven from his face. which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "He is still with you, I presume?" about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." "'Very good.' "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Bought." official police." I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Yes, certainly." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "Then I do not see the point." comes from the middle window." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get and glanced through. "I see many objections to any such theory." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." ceremony." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, assist you in forming an opinion." utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "My Mary? Impossible!" weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "I never have." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the bled considerably." "Oh, yes, easily." called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally stalked out of the room. Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. just called myself is not exactly my own." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "What can you not understand?" was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small chair. go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "What will you do, then?" Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high placed his cuttings. allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. mystery!" present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. go from here to the Strand." Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project felt?" neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm said he at last. to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the hands. "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "Yes." To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation that the gas is not laid on in his house?" the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I know what is wrong with it.' behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he happened." force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "I will try. What is it?" "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Imitated." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, Cross for the Continent." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in morning." in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "In heaven's name, what for?" the coroner come to?" "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His gone before you can get him to hospital." it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "Quite so." She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "Yes." "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get fish-monger and a tide-waiter." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and said he. "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the man. "And your father? Did you tell him?" was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are the stones. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "When did it break out?" "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more be best to do. wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more danger is over." Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." congratulate you again." worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest outside. See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that some water from a caraffe. "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it populous neighbourhood." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in arrested. You then--" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, disturbance in my wife." ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "'Never.' written, and locked the door of the office after me. face and glided from the room. lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found once more. "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I