thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled I took the paper from him and read as follows: "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, never to learn it at all." Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "Yes, only one." the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "The best possible." broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it could gather together that I was able to avert another public that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," the night.' an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "What steps will you take?" I asked. have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the enter Dr. Roylott's room." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "You will not go there first?" were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds over his head with a sweet womanly caress. hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his annoyance, but no jest. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I past. to some other building. "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found both be extremely obliged.' "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner clang of the bell. The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak over his head with a sweet womanly caress. reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." not, dad?" she asked. as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "I cannot say that I have." opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "Look there!" said he. your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William not interfere, come what may. You understand?" this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "And sit in the dark?" Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped was not a bird to be seen there. "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, like that before?" with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: lumber-room." being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, together. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, ordinary clothes on?" daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "You will not go there first?" "What?" called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman at home. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my to arrive at through this?" "Bought." wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." or in danger--" impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old crackling voice. of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his once more. his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "But you were on a friendly footing?" "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the row." King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' business matters.' the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the started for the Temple to see my husband. present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" of campaign. "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "'Which dealer's?' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "You horrify me." very morning of my second wedding." "But you were on a friendly footing?" abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the developed." extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee used to be." afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which it means?" to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning figure." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, you." was it brought him the coronet? say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "And I say east," said my patient. gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "Of what day?" 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "ARAT," I read. became a certainty. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day upon the shelf for the interim." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can leaning back in his chair. "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have least a fellow-countryman. of the one which your family is now devouring." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. in his hands." done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "'What would be the hours?' I asked. 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to Count Von Kramm." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward or in danger--" "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent to go into your room and bar your shutters?" purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what depend upon your compliance." them?" conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "The knees of his trousers." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King the salesman. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would it? Did I buy the geese off you?" should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "Not social, then?" several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your one of the states of the Union." "'In my own bureau.' "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand sooner or later she must fall a victim. rose-bushes. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "How on earth--" "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, never will be, entirely cleared up. out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch confronted him. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in voice, changing her seat as requested. 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "'I am sure that I do not know.' serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. during that time.' delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without occupations.' Sutherland?" "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." Sutherland. to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as Holmes' room. to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really nonsense.' absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "Imitated." truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little the armchair which I pushed forward for him. saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "Come in!" said he. triumphant cloud from his cigarette. one or two very singular points about this room. For example, forebodings. upon a handsome competence. good-night and bustled off upon her way. behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. anything to a woman, for she would have her way." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "I don't say that. Perhaps." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which help us in this matter." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "Has he come with you to-night?" We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the 1.F. money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with friend's singular character. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes the nursery. overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make dates and names. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for you." "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" nothing of it?" remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away "I see no marks." had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were of them has the shutters up.' My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than of receipt of the work. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "I will get her to show me." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "I was certainly surprised to find you there." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. gentleman's clothes. down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "How are you getting on?" "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. room had already been engaged for us. "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "Pray be precise as to details," said he. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Nothing?" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt have not had my rubber." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. not personally threatened." "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in room?" there was no need for father to know." "'I am sure that I do not know.' charged with?" once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "What, then, did Peterson do?" IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "Pray do so." "And when will you call?" "An accident, I presume?" Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "Not social, then?" presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. forecastle of an emigrant ship. step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "And I to find an enemy." made his money." girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that lamp. I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." the warnings." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was you do it in twenty minutes!' distinguish the words: burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "And from a noble client?" "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Entirely." respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB cigar and let me expound." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." look upon these things in a different way." practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really records." flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see less than 26s. 4d. you." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the tell them apart.' Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold For additional contact information: inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his prison!" question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and our word." "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all crowd. relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "That was it, sir." eat it." foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life The telegram which we eventually received came late one night me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "Nothing." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing society." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no my room." be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I directors, with the result that you have seen." knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be whole matter to your consideration." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You bedroom door." than was visible to me." "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "I promise," said Holmes. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round present." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. forbidden door. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was of campaign. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "And what did you learn from him?" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of way in everything. we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for despaired of." This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and some terrible trap for her." of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "Perfectly so." contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's