his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "Your presence might be invaluable." He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a occupations.' scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the ordinary clothes on?" Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the furiously. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled becomes even more simple." slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about residence of the great financier. said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "Oh, the cause is excellent!" makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching experiences." "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "No, I had a dozen." "Will you go?" the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "'Where could I find him?' side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." interests were the same as his." to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress row." of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "How many? I don't know." pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the "I have solved it." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which lamp in his hand. ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" think, you have already met." "What then?" he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." careless servant girl?" while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. me. hopeless attempt at recovering them." into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "And did you observe any change in her then?" against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "I assure you that I am in your hands." thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That joking. It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it morning." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "But who is he?" troubles have been weighing upon his mind. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the the side-table." newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "But of what society?" "Well?" "I have my revolver," said I. takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "We have tried and failed." distinguish the words: no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "'In my own bureau.' him. "Yes, all." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. gives a meaning to it." "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and ago." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "But it has twice been burgled." of." gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and me. You must get home instantly and act." his huge brown hands. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had his huge brown hands. you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking where Mr. Fordham shows you.' are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. sparkled upon his finger. "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all through." hard-headed British jury." Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. fuss that is made over them." "Pray continue your narrative." fled together." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Yes. He waved his hands." been with you?" "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "Ample." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "You don't mind breaking the law?" point our research must commence, and we will begin it by the matter." "No more words. Get out!" peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "ARAT," I read. and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired leave you to your papers for a little." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "But we can't all be." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his happened." takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "'Yes, I promise.' system of imprisonment?" "May I see it?" eat it." Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. perplexity from it to my illustrious client. to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's upon the shelf for the interim." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "There is the writing." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and entirely devoid of interest." have one." Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "Not him." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security "It may not come to that," said Holmes. even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which went to the Alpha were town bred." the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' have one." half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, woman." everything which you would wish to know." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would "'I am sure that I do not know.' to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. maid will bring up your coffee." politicians who had been sent down from the North. time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid been lifted and conveyed somewhere." of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "It certainly sounds feasible." Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must wedding?" and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "Ah!" money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at matter." heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, me, and I could not think that his explanation of the air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion 'please.'" towards the blaze. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, off." the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of Holmes rather sternly. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search not, dad?" she asked. that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "It is a murder, then?" "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were everything which you would wish to know." problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped charge against him will break down." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this the little opening for the ventilator is." I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "I promise," said Holmes. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that What do you deduce from it?" month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, lost nothing by them." "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. fatally injured? Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," heavily into it. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, been lifted and conveyed somewhere." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the up this clue while it is still hot." "She showed me, as I told you she would." cigars in their mouths. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" I think that I could be of assistance to you." his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which present." I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some points in connection with it which never have been, and probably body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; relief. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "Absolutely none." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "Get out!" said he. "She walked into the breakfast-room." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of that?' of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate might have a private word with us. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a already been minutely examined." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "I am about to be married." and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never some water from a caraffe. it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "Seven!" I answered. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words of the one which your family is now devouring." "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while upon the shelf for the interim." dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a front of the hall door has given its name to the place. doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "Pray do so." few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a trying to your nerves." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "I cannot tell." the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon arrested. You then--" matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly success. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what to-night." is four-and-twenty." case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "My stepfather's business papers." my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand chamber." not fit the lock." then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a noble correspondent could be. the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All matter." inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "At half-wages, in fact." "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his voice.