and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At allusion to a rat. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and passage and a tap at the door. "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings your room." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera placed his cuttings. existence." ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have a good hundred miles off by now." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "And why?" "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "That was it, sir." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the call the police, let the police find what they can.' In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily attention." outbreak?" if she died from some sudden fright." impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "To an end?" fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the papers must be those that are destroyed.' liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small matter over." would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other as this. Pray let me have the details." cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the is now desirous of getting those letters back." demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' This is what he says: drawing your inferences." "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect wife's character?" "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was have had none more fantastic than this." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Stolen." another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not your room." looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to it." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we passage and a tap at the door. gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would believe that I should never have any practice at all. appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "'Why that?' I asks. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. note?" "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for to go into your room and bar your shutters?" heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "The rest you will leave in our hands." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "She told me to ask you." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after I nodded to show that I had heard. acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project disturbance in my wife." where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my companion quietly. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which to surprise her." abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "Not social, then?" A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." the bottom.' intrusion of other matters." cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "I am sure." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the undoubtedly my uncle's." he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring ventilator." "'I am sure that I do not know.' "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt him. "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this nights." light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the bears upon the case?" delighted to hear it," he said. to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your any more." of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "The murder was done with it." glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "Always." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" flock.' preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into sake, don't!" imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "I should wish to." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is with you?" was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "This photograph!" "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your mystery." tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was of the way of danger. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made not use it unless it is absolutely needed." hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to foresight and the moral retrogression?" With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "What! a murderous attack?" refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and into the bag, and made for the door. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it dear old homesteads?" until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United very morning of my second wedding." them?" "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the completely overtopped every other consideration that we both black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to will be renamed. "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood lamp in his hand. have been better. It is all right." "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "No." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an posted to-day." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic clang of the bell. do you make of it all?" was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never at my remark. Have you good authority for what you say?" the Red-headed League." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with that you saw all that I did." "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" him to be an active member of the medical profession." for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his knees, staring into the fire. "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "And Irene Adler?" quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "Then I am your man." bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "I shall most certainly do so." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His woman who has had her own way to make in the world. of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "You don't mind breaking the law?" to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an occurred." "I guessed as much." dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "I cannot imagine." child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the will he say when he returns?" upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray within hail.' It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "Just look it up, then." fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. a good hundred miles off by now." one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily something of him before." in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect business in the City. She little knew what. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable to talk it over. mystery!" to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally and no precautions can guard against." waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted Munro.' ordinary clothes on?" my friend's incisive reasoning. particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as where Mr. Fordham shows you.' to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if strode off upon his way. miles off. calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which to Leatherhead. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang page at http://pglaf.org "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so own family. said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "Here?" lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very upon the shelf for the interim." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his conversation I have gathered that they have been married about Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which pressing in one house as in another. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate suggested at once that there must be a communication between the International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at himself. "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "Then you may entirely rely on me." of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been was a loud and authoritative tap. lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the stood on the top of it. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "But his left-handedness." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "A call for help, you thought?" when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her fasten all the windows?" cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "But how could you guess what the motive was?" her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of your room." dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded you found me to-night--and running through the front room she in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the long narrative. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw a little more before I quite committed myself. shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. as this. Pray let me have the details." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "In San Francisco, a year ago." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "'About the same.' second window is the one that I jumped from." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "Quite so. She has her freedom." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "I should be immensely obliged to you." this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to prove to be little relation between the different incidents of "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "Indeed! Whose, then?" lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that brought there to personate someone, and the real person is "I am in hopes that she does." "No, I am descending." received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "What then?" with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return shall not find me ungrateful." Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any