afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. man. "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, had a long day." "Stoke Moran?" said he. "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "No?" the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very unclasping of his long thin hands. was lame." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "May I see it?" that?' "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as some terrible trap for her." wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than this as likely?" "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." way in." presented more singular features than that which was associated which our visitor detailed to us. agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few our word." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive highly," said Holmes. your co-operation." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting call you and give you the chance." charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' kind enough to tell me what I should do." dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "I should wish to." closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and up this clue while it is still hot." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." asked with his eyes open. have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "'And the work?' the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." never will be, entirely cleared up. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was lamp. which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at infinite languor in his face. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very question. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask call the police, let the police find what they can.' "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." lost nothing by them." a suggestive one." a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and was shining brightly. said he at last. joking. himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a and a shock of very red hair. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the Holmes. before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it never came back." should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon the inner apartment." two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' clang of the bell. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an started for the Temple to see my husband. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a young Openshaw's." garden below. explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" upon the sideboard." "Yes, it would be as well." away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you want, then?' whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 Surrey." appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy goes." "I have seen the police." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "ARAT," I read. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the the Assizes." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from but preventing her from injuring another. fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an have been better. It is all right." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the into the room. responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared have one." "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a she to prove their authenticity?" With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in "Yes, it would be as well." went to the Alpha were town bred." "Yes, but only for you and me." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and had died away into the silence from which it rose. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way always that they were such commands as a lady might with study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a Street. "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "At the wedding breakfast." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "My private note-paper." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the crime. my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." tell him that I know him to be innocent." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very which our visitor detailed to us. so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the business matters.' "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the trying to your nerves." last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut awaited us upon the table. consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was one of them." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal The events in question occurred in the early days of my south, for the country is more deserted there." Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she been lifted and conveyed somewhere." DISSOLVED. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with completely overtopped every other consideration that we both hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was the inner apartment." believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to you?' gigantic client. Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I been anything against him. He had for years been known as a in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea noise which awoke you from your sleep?" be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." dead, shall be safe with us." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and about. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a You want to know what became of those geese?" at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has any little problem which you may submit to me." "Deserted you?" "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had and capable of preserving a secret.' little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "He disappeared so suddenly." connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and persecution?" "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, go back?" disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so side. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "I am to be neutral?" "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm such person." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into you?" "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is chemical work which was so dear to him. their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long derbies." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. to tackle the facts." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum other means.' diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead redistribution. this unhappy family?" "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "I think it very unlikely." fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from child?' It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a several quiet little villages up there." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always 1.E.9. "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies in one or two places in England?' "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 my secret was safe in his possession. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who you." upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings was a loud and authoritative tap. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very light and attacked it." "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but people don't know." the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the since then to throw any light upon what became of him." to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your gives a meaning to it." there were one or two details which were new to me. But the his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "Nothing?" might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "Not yet." betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to call you and give you the chance." up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon and it need not interfere very much with one's other and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always because she had spent so short a time in this country that she said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for His smile broadened. acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." strength in the others." arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for heavily into it. "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "Entirely." "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me acted in my house last night?" ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return felt?" never to learn it at all." "Did you observe the colour?" the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands congenial hunt. Chief Executive and Director interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had narrative." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a "No, I think that I'll take it." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "But how could you guess what the motive was?" gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "I am following you closely," I answered. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. there when the Rucastles went away." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in I approached. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the him and tried to hold him back. mysterious business." the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. place, I think that there is good ground to think that the of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence Where does the thing come from?' "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting case-book, which he consulted. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and mysterious business." upon the sideboard." France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at exactly what you advise." "Yes." "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She