was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely dead, shall be safe with us." whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." ready to-morrow?' that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking lamp in his hand. was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that been shamefully used." "I cannot imagine." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "I would give my fortune to have them back." pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Dr. Becher's." which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small asked with his eyes open. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "Perhaps I have." lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself in his power. slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of again before evening." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a to me. and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt were wasted." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "Always." brain must have something in it." fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" developed." could go. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." sooner or later she must fall a victim. William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "None." "Oh, the cause is excellent!" I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire rose-bushes. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any was keenly on my guard against him. over his head with a sweet womanly caress. would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my round and wave him away like that.' certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present over here." It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I with her." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and McCarthy's innocence. happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as nonsense.' can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Yes." "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' of it with the greatest attention. "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a helping a boy to put up the shutters. out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "To an end?" vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the sparkled upon his finger. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me she might be summoned. voice. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." past. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Yes." We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "At the wedding breakfast." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after from the brougham. against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to little adventures." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "How can you tell that?" said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you there in twenty minutes." might have a private word with us. advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Have you good authority for what you say?" upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made suggested at once that there must be a communication between the makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "Ah!" "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the a good hundred miles off by now." gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir lectures into a series of tales." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few head. So long, then!" pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. more terrible than the truth. tear off another piece?' humiliation." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the with the outside air!" cheerful." said I. pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John McCarthy." assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." could not have written that. It is the German who is so and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "I think that it is very probable." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I His name is Francis Prosper." had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said you?" that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "Always." usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much Project Gutenberg-tm works. "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." been deceived." the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their key turn in the lock." it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of notes," he said. indiscretion." the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all drove away. places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I introspective fashion. first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his which it had come upon my father." lectures into a series of tales." quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from it. himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From test if we have an answer to our advertisement." autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "What then?" detective. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of get her out of the way." the devil!" when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and client, rising. "It looks newer than the other things?" room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "You horrify me!" "Was she in good spirits?" reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in be there in time for your coming." have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs derbies." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have head. So long, then!" Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "'You cannot say what it was?' glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "What do you mean?" "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, very old mansion. the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public our word." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten "I was afraid that you were engaged." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and villagers almost as much as their master. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over me have 200 pounds?' submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the them?" lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour was it brought him the coronet? for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "How do you know, then?" "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he your troubles." have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit followed. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias begun to whiten, even as mine has." two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "I am following you closely," I answered. notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "Well." time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now which our visitor detailed to us. and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your what I may call a really hard day's work." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" Holmes. been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "'Then let me do so?' in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness to Leatherhead. spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white know all about it," he snarled. lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated in his power. insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers roused himself from his reverie. in darkness. "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. might help us?" complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "The best possible." "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social enter Dr. Roylott's room." "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "At what time?" scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "Yes." Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, the side-table." sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since have got?" "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of or other trace. But how on earth--" "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?"