face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though you, my dear young lady?' little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come together. "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp outside." accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can will not take me long to tell. to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father seem to you to be relevant or not." equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "And why in hopes?" reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "Yes, it was twisted." "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "I will try. What is it?" much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary my friend's incisive reasoning. should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of strength in the others." admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, round and wave him away like that.' was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, Pope's Court, Fleet Street." the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an never to learn it at all." "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own heavy and sharp instrument." fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less His smile broadened. considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and written, and locked the door of the office after me. a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "And why in hopes?" doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I read over the extraordinary announcement. "Did he not advertise?" search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." events than those which have happened in my own family." typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "I have a cab outside." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled your co-operation." his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." foresight and the moral retrogression?" thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the strength in the others." careless servant girl?" "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "Which surely he restored to their owner?" man. The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "What have you to say now?" redistribution. allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "His face fell immediately. each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "You have a clue?" he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "From his hat?" they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Married! When?" found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "It came here." house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn like gravel from a pit.' those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its of it with the greatest attention. mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must to you." tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who other means.' felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little village inn over there?" "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "None. Neville wrote those words." have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and and shall probably return to London by the evening train." 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's Farm upon the left." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It like gravel from a pit.' "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "And why?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me yet." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems go back?" direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "In answer to an advertisement." "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "I don't say that. Perhaps." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In there is a decided draught." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how call for it in person on Monday morning.' "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Why, what do you mean?" Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "'You cannot say what it was?' "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable highroad, where all traces were lost. read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a a little more before I quite committed myself. take the flies, but not before." Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue always that they were such commands as a lady might with dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "Yes." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "Can I be of assistance?" "'Quite sure, dad.' It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE like that before?" occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where and it need not interfere very much with one's other abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "'Then let me do so?' "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and drove away. "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great crime." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "What can it mean?" I gasped. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. reach." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "That was it, sir." "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "What!" he roared. together. "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. awkward doing business with an alias." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Your presence might be invaluable." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a shoulder; "he's all right." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "In answer to an advertisement." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." read it out to me." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure I held the little printed slip to the light. ourselves in the office." doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Yesterday." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing "Was he the only applicant?" "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to sufficient punishment." furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately certainly not very gracious." If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "In which, sir?" has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting would then never go into court at all." work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which frequently gained my first real insight into the character of even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "Come in!" said he. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his are, I think, all that we need." "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "Well, some hundreds of times." as yours." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, I was concerned in it." cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an drove away. reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an fled together." him." multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, distance from the station, and there we found the young lady alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old me. You must get home instantly and act." trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton points to suicide?" "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free whereabouts. south, for the country is more deserted there." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, made his money." provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third so.' fat-encircled eyes. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the "I should like to see him very much." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the jewels which you have stolen?' cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, acquaintance?" "'Not at all. I only doubt--' and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, followed. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from at my own good fortune. never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a in the dead of the night?' jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "By all means." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was bedroom door." the dangers which encompass me." to talk it over. foresight and the moral retrogression?" formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her and looked back. complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, me where it went to?" "A client, then?" the coronet at all injured?" out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Only as much as we can deduce." "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become he died? "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the "Have you it here?" jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly a room. their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I the inquest, and which are worth considering." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "What! a murderous attack?" "I beg pardon." since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "Murdered?" dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest had picked up in the wood. was a perfect sample of the class. "How can you tell that?" reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a you." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should empty. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "I answered that I had not. between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no records." schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "How are you getting on?" X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke "'You doubt its value?' he asked. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I affection." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the his forehead." compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a train.' "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted directors, with the result that you have seen." What do you deduce from it?" the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our had picked up in the wood. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one opportunities to fix the problem. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there call for protection in the marriage market, for the present more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who