fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me skylight. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope salesman. "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "'What then?' I asked. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, dead, shall be safe with us." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, clang of the bell. "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and paper in the air. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when astonishment. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the crime. of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily sound at heart." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal "You have but to name it." way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "But she could not love him." her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that against a man in the prime of life?" "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "The doctor?" you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "I say it is." "I am in hopes that she does." that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "And what did you see?" "Yes." "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "That is unusual in a young girl." wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked to his chemical studies. tension within him. many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of chance at all." "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. carried out of court." active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and and effective." power." Doctor, of the paper and the date." has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "It looks newer than the other things?" Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Then how many are there?" upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "Not yet." the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, "Your presence might be invaluable." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room said I. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save "I see many objections to any such theory." innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "'Is 4 pounds a week.' of them has the shutters up.' "That was it, sir." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed cheerful." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "I am armed." "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the with her." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. "That is also quite modern," said the lady. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to there." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us few hundred pounds.' Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my me where it went to?" think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. present." responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the use an arc-and-compass breastpin." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I case before our client came into the room." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. the morning and make my own way in the world.' tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into "Proceed, then." great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "That is possible." closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "And you don't know his address?" with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a and glanced through. "I don't believe it." closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "It came here." "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock really the only notable feature about the thing." are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "The best possible." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and horse could go." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake so.' the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang served to weaken the effect. "Precisely." were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips "'Entirely.' and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." as this. Pray let me have the details." very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as questioning and rather startled gaze. to change my dress. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay closely." fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, something of him before." "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "BALLARAT." thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "And why?" free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home she might be summoned. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my "What then?" said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in then?" "But you have hopes?" train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The questioning and rather startled gaze. horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. digesting their breakfasts at home." address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have humiliation." Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to even of instruction." "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was companion. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was them, and came down just as you departed. beg that you will break it off." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the that he will be back before evening." guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, him!" The events in question occurred in the early days of my Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a to take care of herself." a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left standing smiling on the door-step. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the down from London to inquire more deeply into it." Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you knowledge of the world." them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is cost them two and thirty pounds." the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, sparkled upon his finger. "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "In what way?" asked Holmes. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "By no means." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "You did not overhear what they said?" floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a himself to tell his story. as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this it were putty." observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which the driver. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all your Highness to the police-station?" "What?" we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "Always." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "Nearly eleven." springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly families. Now for the facts. paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and Eyford at 11:15.' "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I will take you up to see the machine.' before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the I shall continue with my miserable story. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "Did your wife hear all this?" no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an his face which made him a very different person to the round, tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk anything to do with the matter?" whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" to a more successful conclusion." wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "No, distinctly professional." misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. could gather together that I was able to avert another public stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done appointment with me for six o'clock?" Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without what is your own theory as to what took place?" "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his green of the new foliage. to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am shoulder; "he's all right." the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, is," said he presently: reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "I am all attention, madam." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day will take you up to see the machine.' observed. emerged. them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were straightened it out again. returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to and inquire as to the address." in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted flock.' points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "'I have heard so.' has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do James Windibank. Voilà tout!" Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I young Openshaw's." in the dead of the night?' whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant despair." moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern the ceiling. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of appeal." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat was feeling which was the fattest.' tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "I say that I have solved it." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" his face. matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "I cannot as yet see any connection." "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Yes." six. Come in!" laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "Yes, I have one waiting." so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "Ah!" common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard detained." a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "'Certainly not.' protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "I have a cab outside." Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight might have a private word with us. with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without away to you." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' will take you up to see the machine.' When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end fattened it expressly for you.' "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the learned something! Where are the gems?" smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to