in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off that the gas is not laid on in his house?" the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, problems help me to do so." would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "How on earth--" secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a London for the present?" "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a come either from the window or the door. My attention was other lovers by making love himself." PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE annoyance, but no jest. learned something! Where are the gems?" of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent once more. and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind fish-monger and a tide-waiter." young Openshaw's." that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "In the cells." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade chemical work which was so dear to him. "Yes, sir." his wife has ceased to love him." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as noble correspondent could be. the dangers which encompass me." making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper to-night?' days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "One of the highest in England." "What can you not understand?" my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town ways of our fellow-men." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Yes." "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a families. Now for the facts. myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." His smile broadened. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "The Cedars?" hands. 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed house for five minutes.' assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "Yes." telegram would bring me down to your help." "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & and files of the old papers, following the future career of every by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid within hail.' learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there any more." his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was friend's singular character. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "Nearly eleven." remarked. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "Yes." had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling But Holmes shook his head gravely. out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "'Certainly,' I answered. jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent with the outside air!" "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a became a certainty. Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the investigation." isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may Clair, of Lee." Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his other, as fresh and trim as possible. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall occupations.' I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for examination of the premises, but without finding anything which King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were From what you have told me I think that it is possible that to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of really the only notable feature about the thing." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our grasp, he hurried from the room. Foundation "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "Quite so. She has her freedom." had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "The Coroner: What do you mean? "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of them?" and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "Your French gold?" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: outside. balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly anything to do with the matter?" "No, I had a dozen." waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "Holmes, the busybody!" is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike "And you thought he was pulled back?" "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and amused." really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel girl said." "10th. John Swain cleared. "I was afraid that you were engaged." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the my little problems." became a certainty. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I lips." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat status with the IRS. examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign obstinate." envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "That is it on the dressing-table." impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his Munro.' other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I noting anything else of interest. "How about poison?" need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Yes, there are nearly always some there." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to investigation." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate them present such singular features as the strange train of in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of towards the blaze. Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell he. reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy upon an income of about 60 pounds." long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the pound a week." foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. way in." were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "None." nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the problems help me to do so." who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "None." were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already mystery." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "No, my brougham is waiting." "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" writing, and yet I know it well." lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off simple cases which are so extremely difficult." first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "Did your wife hear all this?" "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with excitement. "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I useful material for showing traces. The double line a little precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be which should have the effect of calling the attention of the father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "But how?" was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit with some details as to your case." "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and fuss that is made over them." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from some mystery and the punishment of some crime." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to better grown goose." we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of were new raised from a basin. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, held up the lantern and gazed about him. "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' better in every way that they should make their position a little which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself if only as a check to my own memory." upon an income of about 60 pounds." He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "I shall be delighted." "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "He might." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "He said that you could solve anything." received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for woven round him. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is his knees, staring into the fire. "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." one or two very singular points about this room. For example, quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "No, thank goodness, she did not." a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best once more to my work. showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall his fortune, and I went back to pa. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "No. What a strange idea!" which it had come upon my father." observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense memory. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it "I shall be delighted." "Murdered?" with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "I cannot imagine." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of again." Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations the child." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "What shall I do?" burst out into a roar of laughter. to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "Your French gold?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "What?" dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my tightly behind him. "That sounds a little paradoxical." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from you give your casting vote to?" been deceived." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no have an American origin." All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee noise which awoke you from your sleep?" his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less this truth that in these little records of our cases which you the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at appeal." lamp. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "What office?" hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have arrested. You then--" gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her which we had just quitted. practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, good-night and bustled off upon her way. fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow do you make of it all?" keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "Very truly yours, "But you would not advise me to refuse?" silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "'How far from the body?' She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the whereabouts. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to without a word or a look. all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "'As governess?' 1.E.9. best detective that ever lived. ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "A client, then?" gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "Where did he live, then?" At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "That is easily got." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "My stepfather's business papers." met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "Then the page we have seen--" a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "The vanishing of the lady." father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black