stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "I would pay ten." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of the Assizes." so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet him. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried had died away into the silence from which it rose. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, asked with his eyes open. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter side. "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "Her father is very rich?" strength of mind to control. subject to the trademark license, especially commercial use an arc-and-compass breastpin." professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, always that they were such commands as a lady might with least a most suspicious remark." one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "One?" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Yes." not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my once more to my work. know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can been anything against him. He had for years been known as a The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with morning." appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from nonsense.' "I have my revolver," said I. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the was already answered. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are papers must be those that are destroyed.' more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are foot. Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was his eyes and forehead. "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, like that before?" "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you he died? "I answered that I had not. in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "'Most admirably.' He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. fled together." reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me dates and names. last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He your troubles." thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it shoulder; "he's all right." double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, entirely lost his self-respect." reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court there when the Rucastles went away." them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must fishes. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "It looks newer than the other things?" when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "My dear Holmes!" Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the in. *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "Have you it here?" lumber-room." she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an now. It seems that there had been some informality about their comes from the middle window." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor eat it." creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "It must be recovered." She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional it." the morning and make my own way in the world.' such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached to me. their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "Then I can wait in the next room." d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "How did that help you?" "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name from you?" which was all perfectly true. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to indiscretion." "Could he throw no light?" could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is plantation.' chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier that I may have something better before very many minutes are children over to America with him, so that I found myself without contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I retorted upon me, and I on you." pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich Holmes' room. impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Where is it, then?" "And what did you see?" crime. waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "Entirely." wedding?" indiscretion." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The will he say when he returns?" "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion to his chemical studies. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her awaited us upon the table. "It was." delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. minor matters until to-morrow." admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "Very murderous indeed." "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp to a light-house. wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. was the fact that his father should, according to his account, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to behind me. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of people in all walks of life. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the charged with?" course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were until night should bring an explanation. just ask you whether you had heard it.' Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "Yes, sir." much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Yes." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but that threaten you." familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is said he. slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "Very. But will he see it?" bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a chance." such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "My own seal." abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have yet." snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "I will do it." and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. that?' crowd. that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." retorted upon me, and I on you." Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered see a sister of mine apply for." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "Not him." cigar and let me expound." sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of to some other building. "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "None." of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice the coroner come to?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Why, what do you mean?" "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater floor. might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the and that he would see to anything that turned up. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "Very murderous indeed." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. disappearance of the bride.'" why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "What can you not understand?" that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always and no precautions can guard against." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. kind enough to tell me what I should do." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "Imitated." Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "You don't mind breaking the law?" "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his you?" his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but the general public were present, then?" the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' society." States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "What is it, then--a fire?" the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "I should be immensely obliged to you." safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "It is very clear." which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "None." trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "No." Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal is now desirous of getting those letters back." "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and questioning and rather startled gaze. in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of sooner or later she must fall a victim. "But your client--" him nearly every evening." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view had a long day." surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the his knees, staring into the fire. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled appeal." have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think sentimental considerations in the background which would induce pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "Absolutely?" rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love visitors." clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "But you can know nothing of this?" or other trace. But how on earth--" first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked long narrative. "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can http://gutenberg.net/license). long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as The note was undated, and without either signature or address. daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "If so, much may have happened between." "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no himself. over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if