time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "Absolutely none." caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of bird I ate is country bred." existence." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "In heaven's name, what for?" to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." fact, we may call it conclusive." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my "And how have you succeeded?" desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent This is what he says: continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." "Was she in good spirits?" impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of nothing with him." contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard just ask you whether you had heard it.' There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest know all about it," he snarled. should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do train.' all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "My dear Holmes!" "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "You are certainly joking, Holmes." a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked strong reason behind." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled "Did your wife hear all this?" over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east mystery." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "And your mother is alive?" IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two the so-precious time, but come!' called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down comes from the middle window." matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my colonel looking down at me. "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "'There is a drive, then?' grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the if only as a check to my own memory." hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you the child." deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods she used." Sutherland. hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "BALLARAT." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his and put his glass in his pocket. among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "You horrify me." "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off look dissatisfied." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, despair." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have business?" The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when or other trace. But how on earth--" "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "I assure you that I am in your hands." been able to understand it, in a very few words. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, carriage. It was a chestnut." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my disturbance in my wife." "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Pray do so." "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to village inn over there?" thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon of your young ladies.' glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it Sutherland. during that time.' me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time good for you to do.' play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "On your arm?" place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the in his hands." frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "Witness: It was. hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "The murder was done with it." in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings The telegram which we eventually received came late one night lamp in his hand. at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one flock.' this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the geese which you supplied to the Alpha." over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for showing my impatience. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook sneer upon his pale face. horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had the matter." "What is it?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "You horrify me." considering the formidable letters which were received by himself a room. like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just for its centre. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of this man was intellectual?" flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and made him keep the appointment." "'I have heard so.' "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who them, and came down just as you departed. "The decline of his fortunes, then?" business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative to miss it." wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man "That is unusual in a young girl." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very in. memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "When did she vanish, then?" set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' too. believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Then, how do you know?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "You forget that I know nothing about it." "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "None." favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle Miss Holder?" Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the mysterious end." away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." used to be." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, formed some opinion?" assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap a suggestive one." of them has the shutters up.' not personally threatened." handed it to him. Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "I should wish to." "Just look it up, then." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and and the colonel ushered me in. known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that clanging. listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else may never be exposed to such a temptation." drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us begin with, and I had not got mine yet." handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, clang of the bell. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Why serious?" a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, DAMAGE. shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no spare." "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "I am following you closely," I answered. going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been crime. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There if I call to-morrow?" an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. I am not easy in my mind about them." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "How are you getting on?" "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "You think that he is dead?" St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We any." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "Where is it, then?" followed. "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "If I can be of use." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a to arrive at through this?" question. honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to are, and they are waiting for us." grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the The note was undated, and without either signature or address. Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." like gravel from a pit.' so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "I will get her to show me." "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, once more for Briony Lodge. hard-headed British jury." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "Yes." danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled to-night?" I asked. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He strode off upon his way. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect answered with a sidelong glance. years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." get the tickets." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the memory. and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his against a man in the prime of life?" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution his wife has ceased to love him." James Windibank. Voilà tout!" brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "How do you know, then?" shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every the inquest, and which are worth considering." have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom closing the door. "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," locked. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to some mystery and the punishment of some crime." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some of his shoulders. It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "But who is he?" the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, following enigmatical notices: crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite to-night's adventure." inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "I see many objections to any such theory." "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down lost his Christmas dinner." was used.' chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the ceremony." "So I am. Very much so." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from could not account in any way for the presence of the missing paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is habit of advancing money.' "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and which are rolled in Rotterdam." B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which side. "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which hurried away. bled considerably." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I may never be exposed to such a temptation." Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" shadow pass over his face as I spoke. five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the to Leatherhead. sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a place no limit on the sum I may draw." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. His smile broadened. basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, enter into my head. Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without works. See paragraph 1.E below. case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "You have carte blanche." neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists