not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much as the one I chose?' never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a at my remark. parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from light and attacked it." "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "In which, sir?" assist you in forming an opinion." side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "It is his hat." any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from stepfather?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure sparkled upon his finger. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "In answer to an advertisement." put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "And what did you learn from him?" "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly there were one or two details which were new to me. But the home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "I cannot imagine." bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he the bed, and you in that chair." "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found you found me to-night--and running through the front room she that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." handed it to him. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "Oh, fresh and glossy." walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw the address that was given us in the advertisement. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "Of what day?" chance at all." to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "My stepfather's business papers." "'Yes, I promise.' "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, society." more solid." no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, morning." upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from tension within him. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the with her." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. Holmes' thin, eager face. the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be other lovers by making love himself." "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "I warn you that they are very incomplete." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "Nothing." outside. "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that hair?' at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "My dear Holmes!" compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then sneer upon his pale face. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector bled considerably." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "Why? What do you mean?" want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped Edgeware Road. "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "Not in a good cause." vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "And sit in the dark?" wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. habit of advancing money.' "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend II. o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily used to be." "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us other means.' shall use the carriage to-night." passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "I have hopes." and the whole place is in a blaze." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed stalked out of the room. it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "On your arm?" member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming outside. "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Where to?" his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is about here speaks of his kindness to him." "You have the photograph?" brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have the ceiling. him. Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming over his head with a sweet womanly caress. the so-precious time, but come!' that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which him. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a the devil!" "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. minor matters until to-morrow." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal has little to do with my story." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "You did not overhear what they said?" I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "Yes, all." The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "'Most admirably.' them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from perplexity from it to my illustrious client. that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "If I can be of use." my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "No." knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he second window is the one that I jumped from." could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "Perhaps I have." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast she to prove their authenticity?" "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." went to the Alpha were town bred." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "'What do you call purely nominal?' then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I certainly do as you advise." suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a not come at once?" fled together." in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness footfalls from the street. there when the Rucastles went away." "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora shaken than I had ever seen him. front of me. heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire for its centre. police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be tied." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean stood on the top of it. enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "That is also quite modern," said the lady. With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "Always." possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "You don't mind breaking the law?" together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." writers could invent nothing more crude." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before eavesdroppers?' "Nothing." sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your presented which may be striking and bizarre without being half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own with some details as to your case." eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the been with you?" lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn outside." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "One of his hands." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "Oh, the cause is excellent!" layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the amused." least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As have one." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." bill, which interests me deeply." cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a what these perils are?" generous with you in money matters.' detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "Why? What do you mean?" knowledge of the world." "Never." folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was promised to bring home. envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. straightened it out again. "That is it on the dressing-table." came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "The knees of his trousers." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "Dirty?" chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my delirious. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the call for it in person on Monday morning.' met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, room. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the morning." McCarthy." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I observed. and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "Her father is very rich?" last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "And what did you learn from him?" stepfather?" "Very much so." before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door as noiselessly as she had come. constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the deduce something from that?" gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." you want, then?' in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES fatally injured? "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "I cannot imagine." and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of that, and I came down." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered throat." which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your the house with me." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to to Leatherhead. observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "I say it is." with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all of the one which your family is now devouring." Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the I think that I could be of assistance to you." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "From his hat?" to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking tension within him. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is you understand?" the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or geese which you supplied to the Alpha." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes Sutherland?" pity, because in other respects you would really have done very dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found soul! here is her carriage at the door." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "I warn you that they are very incomplete." vault. "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear His name is Francis Prosper." him." but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real