values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have of Fenchurch Street." money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "Pray tell us what has happened to you." you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for Lee, in the county of Kent." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Have you her photograph?" "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather breakfast." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "Seven!" I answered. again." these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are me. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would ways including including checks, online payments and credit card white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could thin, with a long, sharp nose?" Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." very old mansion. "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons said he. the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a arrested. You then--" front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, train from Paddington which would bring you there at about received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall it." "What, then?" have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in to his chemical studies. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman the devil!" 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The dates and names. father's place of business?" This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." know what is wrong with it.' opened a pocket-book and took out a note. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had companion imperturbably. yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "On the contrary, this is the right side." as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "'Is purely nominal.' chance at all." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Just look it up, then." idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have will take you up to see the machine.' chemical work which was so dear to him. although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One because she had spent so short a time in this country that she stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "My last client of the sort was a king." "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the into the bag, and made for the door. "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "Yes." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen Pope's Court. "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and it." fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the be best to do. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child there is a decided draught." stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet danger is over." "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." Clair, of Lee." two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a enter into my head. grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious were unconscious?" away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and death." head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an is a common subject for conversation. "Certainly." hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "I beg pardon." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned woman." "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "The Cedars?" Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. the coronet in his hands?" for its centre. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit words came to my lips. DISSOLVED. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat of it with the greatest attention. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common upon the sideboard." who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. meant it for the best. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. do you make of it all?" surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the the little opening for the ventilator is." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from you give your casting vote to?" other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." future lives." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "'No, I know no one in these parts.' loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling sit on the left-hand side of the driver." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to What do you deduce from it?" deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need looking up at the numbers of the houses." Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is to me. heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I legal crime." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" is four-and-twenty." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, remarked. going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst man. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of amused." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the papers must be those that are destroyed.' conclusions. any little problem which you may submit to me." that I can to serve you." awkward doing business with an alias." him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and already referred to. "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and in this note: this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until drove away. summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Game for a morning drive?" into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "'Then let me do so?' - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk criminal. We have already had experience of such." disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything your Highness to the police-station?" work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He too. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a me." how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. and no precautions can guard against." "No, I think that I'll take it." said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. fire. You quite follow me?" all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the business at Coburg Square is serious." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would coat-tails." The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "What, then?" astonishment. when you have done it." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I character. important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "Oh, yes, easily." the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. of receipt of the work. Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and manager. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "I cannot tell." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." outside. hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his little adventures." "What have you done?" asked Holmes. searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I drove away. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "If so, much may have happened between." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. down. "Witness: I must still refuse. without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence wedding?" it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an chill to my heart. had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat works. As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds second window is the one that I jumped from." while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and for its centre. "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into through." in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation should be so warm over such a trifle." "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "We must sit without light. He would see it through the grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. held up the lantern and gazed about him. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "Yes." central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "No." warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "No." interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social lectures into a series of tales." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Breckinridge is his name." one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have companion. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided ceremony." Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own to change my dress. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk green of the new foliage. only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at returned to France?" Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. him nearly every evening." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a man. unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. second window is the one that I jumped from." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project will not take me long to tell. "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "Who was the criminal, then?" thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening is entirely a question of barometric pressure." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a man. I know him from the photograph." in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A Lee, in the county of Kent." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a his cane at the bell-pull. "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "'It is locked up,' I answered. TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE sound at heart." advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "Yes, only one." hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "Of Friday, June 19th." "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross hurried by. upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was strength of mind to control. had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the the bed, and you in that chair." questioning and rather startled gaze. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the What do you deduce from it?" might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it the child." clanging. moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "'What then?' I asked. "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm was not a bird to be seen there. hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do