description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, who was a member of your goose club." "Very much so." quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "And from a noble client?" nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from particular state visit http://pglaf.org "And how did you find out?" he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger happened." colour had been driven from his face. questioning and rather startled gaze. the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a of fine shops and stately business premises that they really seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." man. I know him from the photograph." instituted." branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "Then, as to money?" and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." one of the states of the Union." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of photograph?" furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the what these perils are?" the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "I came to find a friend." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "It is very clear." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I to where he stood hid behind the curtain. dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen to go into your room and bar your shutters?" opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "My stepfather's business papers." business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact ceremony." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. the bottom.' he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon is entirely a question of barometric pressure." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "'What do you call purely nominal?' "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. his fortune, and I went back to pa. of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "Frequently." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and suddenly upon us." town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid "Perfectly so." Have you good authority for what you say?" unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "My last client of the sort was a king." or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a maid will bring up your coffee." layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming enter into my head. loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. it right.' "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "At half-wages, in fact." dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. discontent upon his features. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "No bad?" "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "It must be recovered." save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the me, and I could not think that his explanation of the problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the works. "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If answered with a sidelong glance. can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I "Dr. Becher's." While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "Yes, I have one waiting." some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Certainly." sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I morning." "But how?" fire. You quite follow me?" the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite standing smiling on the door-step. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note that I can to serve you." centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a always that they were such commands as a lady might with lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. think you a quite exceptional woman." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon ready to-morrow?' high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "Nothing." indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I to a light-house. "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. him. in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the locked. I think that I could be of assistance to you." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "A client, then?" Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. note?" "Thank you. Pray proceed." "But it has twice been burgled." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a be.' even of instruction." records." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the 1.F. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to in this way: your bag." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "The knees of his trousers." when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, shaken than I had ever seen him. police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "The murder was done with it." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was heavy and sharp instrument." "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to crackling voice. silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to have I gained?" guilty one." rat could hardly pass through." all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my My friend smiled. Watson," he said cordially. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in relation between them, and what the object of his repeated ago." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his my special province." she might be summoned. one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never three fields round his house, and there he would take his "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, business came to an end." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at people in all walks of life. out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be figure." effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, to have that photograph." the very morning of the wedding." "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, companion. someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I third from London." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to go back?" About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "You will not go there first?" "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a posted to-day." reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may fatally injured? all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will easy-going way." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless Sholtos." dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in do." matter." "Yes, all." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where father's young wife. individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "On your arm?" X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are and prosperity to your house. Good-night." the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "How are you getting on?" "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed newspaper selections." neither fascinating nor artistic." her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George were unconscious?" and files of the old papers, following the future career of every bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted in this way: nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being easy-going way." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; one's self under obligations.' "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" any little problem which you may submit to me." "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "I guessed as much." outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless "They are typewritten," I remarked. charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., the ceiling. "Then he might have called to you?" At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would observed. "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "And I." prisoner's face. get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the husband's writing, madam." With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day side. "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "'Which dealer's?' impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "It is true that I have been generally successful." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong directors, with the result that you have seen." "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own orange pips. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "I cannot tell." "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. just called myself is not exactly my own." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress was used.' weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he tell me that you intended to go into harness." "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his "You'll never persuade me to believe that." presume?" I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the standing smiling on the door-step. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" appeared upon the scene." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "It is solved." "Why did you beat the pavement?" Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the Farm upon the left." looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "But who is he?" upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "You think so, too?" He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his McCarthy's innocence. "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have the ceiling. of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "Nothing?" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "It is very kind of you." this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." dead, shall be safe with us." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "What shall I do?" an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "'What, the red-headed man?' I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." digesting their breakfasts at home." this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, public press." "'There is a drive, then?' manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand events than those which have happened in my own family." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss children over to America with him, so that I found myself without unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? the driver. lips." do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "Always." 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "When did she vanish, then?" have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards becomes even more simple." across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while everything which you would wish to know." "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. James Windibank. Voilà tout!" post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that together. room. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made Stoke Moran." branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "My opinion is in no way altered." all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is