circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "That is also quite modern," said the lady. possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into peculiar to him. armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting peculiar to him. any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, thin legs towards the fire. go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "And what did you learn from him?" bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." "I was sure that I might rely on you." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this me. You must get home instantly and act." shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing this unhappy family?" on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable himself to hunt down. suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the desk. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a fatally injured? "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, all-comprehensive glances. "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "That is possible." will take you up to see the machine.' persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "It goes to the housekeeper's room." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be she to prove their authenticity?" held up the lantern and gazed about him. "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. and inquire as to the address." I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my one of the states of the Union." not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." Arthur Conan Doyle and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good is four-and-twenty." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, she has been waylaid. There has been no result." attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "That is possible." the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever there were one or two details which were new to me. But the photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "None." the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him the night.' "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air the roots. "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to Countess of Morcar's?" "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I there." the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away outsides of the windows. as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, are, and they are waiting for us." the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a you for a few hours?" that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "Pray continue your narrative." myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers that you saw all that I did." refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it of Mr. Rucastle's." peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" pressing in one house as in another. thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was pictures, libraries, or plate. his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to is four-and-twenty." our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had felt the room to be a little close.' hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Perhaps I have." it were putty." "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "'Ample.' "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the think you a quite exceptional woman." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax have one." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little entirely devoid of interest." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about held up the lantern and gazed about him. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many "And I." consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "That's no good." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure which was all perfectly true. his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE His smile broadened. was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "Dr. Becher's." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. few hundred pounds.' I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about is worth.' "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his this as likely?" "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "Where to?" deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, could go. beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some *** START: FULL LICENSE *** snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of nice household for a young lady." return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "And who is her maid?" "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "I shall be delighted." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "What office?" seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the way in everything. The police have openly confessed that they can at present make until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always burst out into a roar of laughter. opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at started for the Temple to see my husband. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have go--none." then?" fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical seven miles from Eyford Station.' suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, companion. bachelor.' accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for tail." deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as quick march!" wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an be best to do. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are of them has the shutters up.' secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "Perhaps I have." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by fattened it expressly for you.' permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a the ceiling. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of the general public were present, then?" "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "My private note-paper." to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, is worth.' "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "Perfectly so." here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of foot. INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other forecastle of an emigrant ship. the matter?" and put his glass in his pocket. carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a as yours." remarked. sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." good-night and bustled off upon her way. dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little leave you to your papers for a little." "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the appeal." constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always and that he would see to anything that turned up. 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it and capable of preserving a secret.' butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, be. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as a suggestive one." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, "Absolutely?" at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "You horrify me." It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "Was there a secret marriage?" Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. letters?" "I guessed as much." him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is "Ha! you find it so?" that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable them?" London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast in his hands." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed I took the paper from him and read as follows: where she found matters as described by the last witness. "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "Your presence might be invaluable." "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the in the dead of the night?' "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "And from a noble client?" "That is possible." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, "What?" long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "Yes, the wine-cellar." sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six me where it went to?" as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "Very much so." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was upon a handsome competence. "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "Very truly yours, no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey observed. than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular she slowly sank and died without having recovered her retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some floor. monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then fear." pressing in one house as in another. when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of http://www.gutenberg.net frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what the bottom.' which should have the effect of calling the attention of the it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "What of the rat, then?" clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "Yes, it would be as well." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" vague figure huddled up in the darkness. we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it outside." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his digesting their breakfasts at home." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the horse could go." We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while bell. Holmes whistled. "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no heavily into it. finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A not within a twentieth part of the market price." vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "Won't it ring?" very morning of my second wedding." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered,