news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as works. See paragraph 1.E below. including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists bare slabs of marble. he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "Come in!" said he. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." as yours." stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir other, as fresh and trim as possible. all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his a monotonous occupation." back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious arrested. You then--" much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and whether it answered to the description of any of their heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray lamp. "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle "I never have." prepare for the new role I have to play." dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "None." "And on what day did he meet his death?" The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on asked. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind him to go away.' which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he her also." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "I have my revolver," said I. better in every way that they should make their position a little after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "It is very clear." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were noting anything else of interest. clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Yes." method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his at my own good fortune. her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, generous with you in money matters.' "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but depend upon your compliance." His smile broadened. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "Why did you pick him?" fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "'Which dealer's?' cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' formed some opinion?" in his hands." "When did it break out?" you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. strength." light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "It goes to the housekeeper's room." mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "Certainly." any more." "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "But his left-handedness." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive becomes even more simple." silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "Yesterday." "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master legal crime." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical where she found matters as described by the last witness. "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "None." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking congenial hunt. received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, placed his cuttings. inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. photograph a cabinet?" for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." key of the affair now." By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the companion. could gather together that I was able to avert another public The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just "Was she in good spirits?" seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case problems help me to do so." he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel investigation." deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he that he has suffered." "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the served to weaken the effect. we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I "'Where could I find him?' even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See father's young wife. but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet "Game for a morning drive?" "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought important." woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to fattened it expressly for you.' "'Yes.' of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "But we can't all be." "So I heard. You have him here?" very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "How long did she speak to this Alice?" tied." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "'Is 4 pounds a week.' my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and the stones. ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open "Two days later this same performance was gone through under firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated Miss Holder?" "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "There are none." hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those is worth.' breakfast?" 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "'Ample.' "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to money should be paid at once.' round with crates and massive boxes. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by said I. "That is possible." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own obstinate." Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in this remarkable episode. "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this you." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "Precisely so. But how--" "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable round with crates and massive boxes. "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Dark enough and sinister enough." We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "None. Neville wrote those words." go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for his grey eyes. Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other closely." the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, me, and I could not think that his explanation of the at home. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an ashen face. passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "'There is a drive, then?' was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "Then I am your man." sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "What is it, then--a fire?" doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a "He said too much." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "Come in!" said Holmes. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "An enemy?" They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation enter into my head. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not what these perils are?" searched, without anything being found which could incriminate as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered bed dies. Does not that strike you?" instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons in his power. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the there in twenty minutes." plantation.' nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." pictures, libraries, or plate. believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet generous with you in money matters.' for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "That also I could fathom." vague figure huddled up in the darkness. answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem some water from a caraffe. that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "No legal papers or certificates?" bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "What is it, then--a fire?" one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Dirty?" chance at all." a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. drove away. would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "No, distinctly professional." "Where, indeed?" was a perfect sample of the class. upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "Perhaps I have." leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical is," said he presently: editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "Stolen, then." brought there to personate someone, and the real person is shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few it with his own hands." flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the do." office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. persecution?" the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "I shall be delighted." About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler discontent upon his features. I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It brought there to personate someone, and the real person is are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp thin legs towards the fire. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "The rest you will leave in our hands." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you figure." scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking jewels which you have stolen?' call it cruel." following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "Dirty?" tightly behind him. expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my digesting their breakfasts at home." hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. his face. blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "Yes, they were peculiar boots." along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" hands. that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "But what harm can there be in that?" to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "Then he might have called to you?" License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our threw himself down with his face to the pillow. to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' said he. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for standing smiling on the door-step. bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not hard-headed British jury." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" DISSOLVED. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Leave Paddington by the 11:15." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was way in." "Yes." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. lamp in his hand. Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But head. So long, then!" 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the man. be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from chambers. "How did he come?" vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting