"'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were rooms." thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the writer." do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "No?" conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul putting in the horse. "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "Then, how do you know?" "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "So I heard. You have him here?" jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to Leadenhall Street--and--" But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "The landlord of the Alpha." child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather for and were ordered to this address. instituted." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how the salesman. of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of wanted for ourselves." carried out of court." wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to McCarthy's innocence. that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that answered with a sidelong glance. "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." this truth that in these little records of our cases which you shoulder; "he's all right." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went the window, rose as we entered. new acquaintance to Baker Street. "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "Yes, sir." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat be there in time for your coming." "Pray do so." his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting prisoner's face. "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "The rest you will leave in our hands." "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: them?" "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, "'Where could I find him?' saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive for the market.' importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "Seven!" I answered. conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly breakfast." wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a burst into a hearty fit of laughter. my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Sutherland?" "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Precisely." gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, some city in a dream. listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with The events in question occurred in the early days of my "Not in a good cause." puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside Countess of Morcar's?" with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you The telegram which we eventually received came late one night hurried by. subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "And your mother is alive?" "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, for the market.' have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and me upon any point which I do not make clear." side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside delirious. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "No more words. Get out!" test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers here." own family. and prosperity to your house. Good-night." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven as this. Pray let me have the details." of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is habit of advancing money.' but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or Pope's Court. skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it this unhappy family?" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the other lovers by making love himself." and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take Serpentine Avenue. "Yes." "And help." He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the round with crates and massive boxes. "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "And why?" "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Of Friday, June 19th." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "And what then?" permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My Holmes' thin, eager face. adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon "'Ample.' "I cannot tell." "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He digesting their breakfasts at home." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "'In my own bureau.' troubles have been weighing upon his mind. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the the inner apartment." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now see me here to avoid scandal." 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "An enemy?" the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to silent! Oh, he will be silent!' cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! any more." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you simple cases which are so extremely difficult." before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in here." husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if It was close upon four before the door opened, and a Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few which was all perfectly true. her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "It is solved." shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been back alive. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the Mary, has deserted me." took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "They are typewritten," I remarked. look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Were they all fastened this morning?" Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "What, then, did Peterson do?" the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took away in different directions, and I went off to make my own of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch security.' in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came of." ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and this poor creature." "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable to-morrow." locked. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the the matter?" do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A tension within him. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" ourselves in the office." safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming my little problems." her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so an introduction to him?" confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "A greater distance to travel." look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring where she found matters as described by the last witness. be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my views." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It on in his house." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a your troubles." "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by anything to do with the matter?" "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "So I heard. You have him here?" who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away soul! here is her carriage at the door." confronted him. handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker McCarthy." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your "What of the rat, then?" had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and hereditary King of Bohemia." soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or ashen face. accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "I have hopes." she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." power." a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" skylight. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became be there in time for your coming." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little have not had my rubber." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To cost them two and thirty pounds." A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "In the cells." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "I assure you that I am in your hands." really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in were new raised from a basin. "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "It is his hat." But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "And your father? Did you tell him?" familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "We were both in the photograph." Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "Was there a secret marriage?" exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment sofa. This way, please!" "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "And why in hopes?" the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "Certainly." "When did she vanish, then?" puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little been lifted and conveyed somewhere." your most interesting statement." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "But what will you do?" "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and possible that we could bring him back to her? ways of our fellow-men." "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "What?" yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "And on what day did he meet his death?" frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out seven miles from Eyford Station.' not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his your Highness to the police-station?" "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, considering the formidable letters which were received by himself kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of four million human beings all jostling each other within the Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "Yes, at the mines." "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "Holmes, the busybody!" almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the American. Then who could this American be, and why should he to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "I am armed." married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as in the dead of the night?' they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "'Certainly not.' letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste to me. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "No. His orders were to stay in the house." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the mystery." her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they