whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have good-night and bustled off upon her way. "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and in a very precise fashion." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "'Then let me do so?' see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my residence of the great financier. had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "Indeed! Whose, then?" of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." breakfast." yet." "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only all?" electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set go--none." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "Will you go?" maiden herself was most instructive." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss dates and names. will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for breakfast." "What are they?" "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this young Openshaw's." "'Most admirably.' "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of bird I ate is country bred." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Have you her photograph?" present strange and interesting features that it is no easy Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. papers." here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that answer." if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "Was the window open?" yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, business came to an end." is worth.' contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case knowledge of the world." I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "Did your wife hear all this?" deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of already been minutely examined." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "You saw the ventilator, too?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "We have tried and failed." "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a you in your example." "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "What of the rat, then?" "Yesterday." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "'Never.' instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. made his money." closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close fashion which was peculiar to him. "I guessed as much." not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to derbies." cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "It missed him, then?" vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." of it with the greatest attention. "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a that I am arrested." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "Yes, from Horsham." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He Holmes." but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban matter." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed redistribution. have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to are windows in it, of course?" "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "At the wedding breakfast." harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. disappearance of these gems?" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the Have you good authority for what you say?" you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this this man was intellectual?" with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "'I am sure that I do not know.' eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "And how did he make his money?" us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, have got?" set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "Was she in good spirits?" crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. could go. we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after again." "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am crime." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "None. Neville wrote those words." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "Well, it is a possible supposition." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "What! You do not mean bodies?" travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes gbnewby@pglaf.org "Could he throw no light?" of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were the devil!" Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a bird of prey. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." the very letters. But what is this written above them?' stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "Who was the criminal, then?" small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to leaning back in his chair. disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "And I to find an enemy." "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "I know where it is." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a three fields round his house, and there he would take his still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, outbreak?" reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "And how did you find out?" that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "But how?" "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of started for the Temple to see my husband. "About a month then." strength." in. that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "I am still in the dark." conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "I will, Miss Turner." "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, sake, don't!" do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "It's nothing of the kind." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or to go into your room and bar your shutters?" The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were one of them." "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." bled considerably." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands him nearly every evening." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "Well, some hundreds of times." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my through." main points of my analysis." envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he sufficient punishment." pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only during that time.' had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the what do you think they found in the pockets?" "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. him to be an active member of the medical profession." "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, up this clue while it is still hot." to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "'Certainly not.' Street. you came in." unkempt, staring out at me. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "And what did you learn from him?" stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and least a fellow-countryman. connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper to have been novel and of interest." male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "But what will you do?" it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "Certainly." France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "No, but the enclosure is." to affect your life." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "Here?" complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can burst into a hearty fit of laughter. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in be sorry for having acted so harshly." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect thin, with a long, sharp nose?" the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the for and were ordered to this address. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "Well, but China?" had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that with her." "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." congratulate you again." "'Very good.' chamber." hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business in this way: him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That the bottom.' this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "'Oh, no.' his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "What, then, did Peterson do?" day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is him. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." way: "Not particularly." ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "No legal papers or certificates?" green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an at a side door. man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and at my own good fortune. humiliation." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. ago." ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to father's place of business?" snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that intrusion of other matters." veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "What will you do, then?" "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at cigars in their mouths. his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise rose-bushes. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner very old mansion. "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "And how did you verify them?" with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly province." Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" me where it went to?" business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just other lovers by making love himself." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain lips." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "Witness: Nothing definite. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "What office?" crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be events than those which have happened in my own family." brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local and capable of preserving a secret.' "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove one which it was hard to resist. "Yes." good-night and bustled off upon her way. the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his 1.E.9. would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the brandy and water within his reach. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was "The King of Scandinavia." Lee, in the county of Kent." and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "By train from Waterloo." thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "It is very kind of you."