slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. attention." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared you came in." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now take the flies, but not before." the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck what I may call a really hard day's work." wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers likely to be some crony of the landlady's." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will locked." Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' details." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that business at Coburg Square is serious." ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable "By no means." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? arrangements." where we are going." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until fashion which was peculiar to him. "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it comes from the middle window." that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "I have hopes." crackling voice. "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some meanly of me." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "Not in the least." "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was are, and they are waiting for us." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe records." instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her daring than any effort of the imagination." heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "Nothing." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge bill, which interests me deeply." Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass meanly of me." thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you coat-tails." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "Where, then?" his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain forbidden door. "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "That's no good." It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth row." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "Yes, from Horsham." speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether there were one or two details which were new to me. But the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, had formerly been in part my own. "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By "'Then let me do so?' get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would entirely devoid of interest." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "Very truly yours, shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." four million human beings all jostling each other within the would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his wedding?" take the flies, but not before." "It surprised me." giving me time to thank him. "I have my revolver," said I. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "Yes, it was twisted." "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this into her hand at the door and which lured her within their conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a you want, then?' Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it nights." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely joking. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior legal crime." "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the me have 200 pounds?' could not have written that. It is the German who is so waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for had picked up in the wood. said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "'Never.' Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' retorted upon me, and I on you." tear off another piece?' To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So name is different." permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Then he might have called to you?" "And who is her maid?" fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out burst into a hearty fit of laughter. request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to acquaintance?" with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "'What, the red-headed man?' "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall "But how did you gain them?" right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "Seven!" I answered. the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, help us in this matter." values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "I will do it." marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "'Where to?' they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "I answered that I had not. have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, Street. round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute place of silver." "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no assist you in forming an opinion." likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "No bad?" dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the the morning and make my own way in the world.' "And now?" I asked. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "And what did you learn from him?" 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." "None." and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "Where, then, is my wife?" the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done becomes even more simple." advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From window when the police appeared." One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which my former friend and companion. in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our the general public were present, then?" down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "'How far from the body?' cost them two and thirty pounds." "Yes, but only for you and me." certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." gone. squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat the Friday. Was it to be in church?" had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had the nursery. "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to bed dies. Does not that strike you?" light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "Not in a good cause." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that meant." "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "But how?" "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the nonsense.' only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found any more." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "Ha! you find it so?" bled considerably." then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is system of imprisonment?" I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "What of the rat, then?" seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A Serpentine Avenue. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended closely." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That yards of it?' would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord Serpentine Avenue. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still weigh very heavily upon my conscience." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "It was a confession," I ejaculated. over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that better grown goose." himself in a perplexing position. lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue salesman. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "No sign of it?" utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of cigar and let me expound." figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it "'Ample.' severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred was used.' Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." my room." late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his the stones. season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after that you wished to speak to me?' all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something became a certainty. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, sparkled upon his finger. conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work The summons was a brief and urgent one. window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "What have you done?" asked Holmes. and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until for and were ordered to this address. happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the "No. His orders were to stay in the house." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon detective. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "Could he throw no light?" her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "My dear Holmes!" about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was outside. "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls sparkled upon his finger. "I will do it." the coronet in his hands?" quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has are, I think, all that we need." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy secret." would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "But how will you look?" about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "Is he quiet?" doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the stammered. known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and mysterious end." pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "The Cedars?" have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" amused." Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "Why serious?" himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "Breckinridge is his name." carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid to tell." it were putty." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I had formerly been in part my own. having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your the bottom.' him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said answered with a sidelong glance. to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third the roots. threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "And Miss Sutherland?" "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a overpowering excitement and concern. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time