"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He http://gutenberg.net/license). as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment Holmes. And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a point in the dark hollow of his hand. "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should pound a week." opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. arrangements." that threaten you." not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, of a light. "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in wall." said I. yourselves in at night?" white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to such attractions and accomplishments?' in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is into the bag, and made for the door. "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." unclasping of his long thin hands. forehead. that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many in the port of London." exactly what you advise." his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, death." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of extraordinary contortions. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster I leave." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with to-night?' to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should matter." breakfast and whispered something to her husband. of this gang." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the more solid." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the results." of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "What I expected to see." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was matter." the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "My photograph." near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable considering the formidable letters which were received by himself other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "He might." superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "Why did you pick him?" happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned all?" say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and written, and locked the door of the office after me. records." circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared strange features which were associated with the two crimes which It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are it with his own hands." photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. upon the shelf for the interim." Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his silent! Oh, he will be silent!' round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I in the port of London." But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had that you wished to speak to me?' paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had asked. at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "I cannot say that I have." "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress man. I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." This is what he says: morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at more terrible than the truth. "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of discontent upon his features. future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "Your French gold?" "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary the window, rose as we entered. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She that before taking the final step I should like to submit the side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement fasten all the windows?" child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned business at Coburg Square is serious." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." heavily into it. "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to maiden herself was most instructive." editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your along the entire front of the house, with three long windows neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered stepfather?" his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "Why? What do you mean?" position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "'Which dealer's?' where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too likely to be some crony of the landlady's." which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the absolutely follow my advice in every respect." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a system of imprisonment?" and the church but not where the lady lived." "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed chill to my heart. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "None." accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his him to be an active member of the medical profession." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet cheerful." the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "I see no marks." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside highly," said Holmes. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "What office?" You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so me have 200 pounds?' Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The wanted for ourselves." "What, then, did Peterson do?" clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "Two days later this same performance was gone through under abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Well." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You the south-west, I see." his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "She will not sell." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, ashen face. fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a not fit the lock." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "'As governess?' and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and himself in a perplexing position. it were putty." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." thought that she would have been so carried away." case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me an introduction to him?" nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the right! Sit down and let us talk it over." said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "Pray be precise as to details," said he. for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "'Very good.' Holmes' thin, eager face. his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the bird of prey. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet round and wave him away like that.' enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "But she could not love him." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs voice. said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "He said that you could solve anything." "Yes, the wine-cellar." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable written, and locked the door of the office after me. means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. during the last few years, and there are many noble families to other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered placed his cuttings. there when the Rucastles went away." suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right your own bird, so if you wish--" "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," the nursery. problems help me to do so." "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, careless servant girl?" find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "That is unusual in a young girl." "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an morning." of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." heavily into it. unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should and files of the old papers, following the future career of every purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a signal between you and your father? shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as not within a twentieth part of the market price." gigantic client. the stable lane now." one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "It must be recovered." pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I "'And the work?' maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. yards of it?' whatever might befall. in. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." neither fascinating nor artistic." Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and orange pips. down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "Just look it up, then." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), the coronet in his hand?" seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "Yes, there are nearly always some there." have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have the coronet in his hand?" male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the cost them two and thirty pounds." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove indeed happy." glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "I will try. What is it?" hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "Oh, fresh and glossy." "At what time?" any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which is," said he presently: "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "I was mad--insane." "Witness: Nothing definite. to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, cheerful." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "It is half-past ten now." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry as the one I chose?' "No." Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, prove to be little relation between the different incidents of bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." closely." strength." If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the think, you have already met." "My own seal." reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name the very morning of the wedding." "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "Pray continue your narrative." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 cigars in their mouths. "You don't mind breaking the law?" time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "No, finished." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "Did you become engaged then?" "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my shadow pass over his face as I spoke. dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you knowledge of the world." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' second window is the one that I jumped from." Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything the coronet in his hands?" "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "That sounds a little paradoxical." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "Well." noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she things are very often connected not with the larger but with the 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the with frightened eyes at his accuser. Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and geese which you supplied to the Alpha." observed. "And why?" vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about "No." "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the whereabouts. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are fled together." seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have you." "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a handed it to him. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "Then I can wait in the next room." official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family From what you have told me I think that it is possible that continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking memory. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "I don't believe it." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to Surrey." can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "Then what has happened to him?" sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something know what is wrong with it.'