the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Dark enough and sinister enough." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "'I am sure if I had known--' beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, on in his house." but preventing her from injuring another. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural upon an income of about 60 pounds." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "Dirty?" thin legs towards the fire. "But how did you gain them?" it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great hand, madam?" behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, like that before?" beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would shoulder; "he's all right." rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "Could he throw no light?" "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." "'Yes, I promise.' straightened it out again. "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is young Openshaw's." "Perhaps I have." so far?" pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if o'clock is it?" man. I know him from the photograph." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We in a friendly supper." "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as "What are they?" lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon and shall probably return to London by the evening train." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "My dear Holmes!" lectures into a series of tales." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "'Yes, sir.' Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a to affect your life." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her the date of his supposed suicide." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "And on what day did he meet his death?" along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that hurried away. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "Very much so." "My own seal." "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "On Monday." had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have was used.' when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing away to you." now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "It was a confession," I ejaculated. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "If so, much may have happened between." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove placed his cuttings. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these depend upon your compliance." greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "And how did you find out?" think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "That was it, sir." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' who was a member of your goose club." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office experiences." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him distinguish the words: "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "I should like to see him very much." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce 1.F. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "I am sure." did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will you." October 9, 1890. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the these bleak autumnal evenings." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair been shamefully used." "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, hard-headed British jury." Sutherland. I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! "What! You do not mean bodies?" Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency bears upon the case?" bachelor.' Doctor, of the paper and the date." any little problem which you may submit to me." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "And on what day did he meet his death?" would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my must compliment you." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less that before taking the final step I should like to submit the closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I cause to be." hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "Yes, certainly." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "Then he might have called to you?" "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. round with crates and massive boxes. very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may hand, madam?" you?" "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. acquaintance?" view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some "Nor running a chance of arrest?" his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." details." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your me upon any point which I do not make clear." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "How can you tell that?" my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This the ceiling. our word." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door bearing upon the case." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at ceremony." hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the be sorry for having acted so harshly." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no Sutherland?" that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. in my life." quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a made his money." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, For additional contact information: lectures into a series of tales." "That's no good." also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a delirious. him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "And how?" the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, might have a private word with us. unclasping of his long thin hands. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you the armchair which I pushed forward for him. to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is weighed down with some great anxiety. once more for Briony Lodge. of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and which are rolled in Rotterdam." very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" have got?" Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as The King stared at him in amazement. the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, dead, shall be safe with us." you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "Bought." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "Pray do so." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of night.' said he. there were so many in the whole country as were brought together one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a must compliment you." "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "Yes, sir." clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such His name is Francis Prosper." our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for she has been waylaid. There has been no result." five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the right! Sit down and let us talk it over." leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "How did you trace it, then?" but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." wife's character?" upon the white wrist. father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates Mary, has deserted me." and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue of." providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. my former friend and companion. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "I am to be neutral?" on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of arrested. You then--" I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "But I have heard all that you have heard." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of death." Holmes' face clouded over. small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I gigantic client. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "Yes, they were peculiar boots." window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, very peculiar words of the dying woman?" met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "I would give my fortune to have them back." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked to affect your life." Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so all that?" did not hear it also.' "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or had no one to advise her at such a crisis." kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "She walked into the breakfast-room." conduct the inquiry." he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "You have it, sir, just as it happened." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled attention." "You are certainly joking, Holmes." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense it." the room while you explain this matter?" you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of over with notes and figures. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official works. Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in made his money." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a way: question you as to those details which seem to me to be most society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little beg that you will break it off." in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads a monotonous occupation." daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "No, finished." states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, forbidden door. "'Where to?' than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do next day. "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. never will be, entirely cleared up. bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Was your sister dressed?" of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back your troubles." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of notes," he said. has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press visitors." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in direction." "What then?" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "It is a murder, then?" "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step humiliation." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat of note-paper. It read in this fashion: sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that of note-paper. It read in this fashion: Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, if only as a check to my own memory." dear old homesteads?" there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." on in his house." her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "'And the work?' I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "I am in hopes that she does." of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so forebodings. purpose equally well?" long narrative. We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes.