"Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." the driver. itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent congenial hunt. there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of a monotonous occupation." "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "In the cells." upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he cost them two and thirty pounds." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the Serpentine Avenue. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study quite distinctive." without success. At last the little money which I had saved began pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. "'About the same.' chill to my heart. observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "Your presence might be invaluable." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "The Coroner: What do you mean? season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "And why?" scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "'And what are they worth?' I asked. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind not personally threatened." Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "What steps will you take?" I asked. guilty parties." was used.' which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from sound at heart." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "How did he come?" always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "Of what day?" marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both easy-going way." was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and fatally injured? problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which will be renamed. words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "'Yes.' the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted "Yes, that is the Crown." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "Very murderous indeed." passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "'Quite sure, dad.' my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I man. observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "No, I think that I'll take it." He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said know that the truth is known." there when the Rucastles went away." unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was correct than the official force." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily in him." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which papers on the sundial.'" "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside could not have written that. It is the German who is so to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Yes, from Horsham." does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, you?" the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and the room while you explain this matter?" in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, made his money." "That is easily got." smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "'Ample.' "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "Nothing?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." hour?' better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "'Where could I find him?' chance." "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows woman." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'Yes.' upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "Then, how do you know?" have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet affection." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "No, I think that I'll take it." this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had than to us. "That is also quite modern," said the lady. step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Thank you. And your address?" coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell allusion to a rat. which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who think that he is innocent?" in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, yourselves in at night?" receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a as he remarks, very much against the son." "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a think, you have already met." sparkled upon his finger. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "Oh, yes, easily." room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "And I." "'I am sure if I had known--' tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did mystery!" beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, for its centre. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed characteristics, but those are the more obvious." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have forehead. think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip the nursery. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the giving me time to thank him. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It unclasping of his long thin hands. squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat lost nothing by them." "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my very peculiar words of the dying woman?" problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce Count Von Kramm." enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. question. repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "Was he the only applicant?" "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see cigars in the box." "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "I cannot imagine." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Yes." all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is call for protection in the marriage market, for the present instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet himself to hunt down. "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "You were travelling in the States?" "We were both in the photograph." key turn in the lock." again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Precisely so. But how--" "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "I would give my fortune to have them back." "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked occupations.' him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "An accident, I presume?" you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." I leave." outsides of the windows. protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill least a most suspicious remark." discontent upon his features. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "I beg pardon." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "My private note-paper." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My in the port of London." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "My dear Holmes!" "He slept on the premises." are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." my former friend and companion. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "None." The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of the matter?" which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small murdered man." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "That you are never beaten." I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A here and I will read it to you: matters immensely." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "'Not at all. I only doubt--' anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the country, and eventually married, without anyone having a as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then ran thus: been shamefully used." and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who which our visitor detailed to us. fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "Not in the least." front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled when you have done it." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now himself in a perplexing position. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the be sorry for having acted so harshly." All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "When did it break out?" yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "We were both in the photograph." affection." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they business at Coburg Square is serious." hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we them?" you, my dear young lady?' to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all "Certainly." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my to that open window." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "And when will you call?" have established a very serious case against the son of the "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "But what will you do?" should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without The summons was a brief and urgent one. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were