"Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. tell them apart.' paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' narrative." horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "Well, some hundreds of times." cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the directly by questioning you." foresight and the moral retrogression?" in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "Ha! you find it so?" was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "Stolen." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. friends, not even his own brother. There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, recover the gem." left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime of note-paper. It read in this fashion: Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy anything to a woman, for she would have her way." upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your interested in these little problems, and since you are good Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "One of the highest in England." I took the paper from him and read as follows: sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "Did you observe the colour?" chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the "Your sister is dead, then?" "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "By all means." it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing even so self-evident a thing as that." think that he is innocent?" "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. fashion which was peculiar to him. upon the white wrist. had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. "What, then, did Peterson do?" distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from "Look there!" said he. offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This cheerful." change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. your billet.' frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and kindly on the shoulder. interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Then I can wait in the next room." bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." leave you to your papers for a little." was a lad." too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "It missed him, then?" eat it." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the writing, and yet I know it well." "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, hardly wander." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb lectures into a series of tales." might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making Holmes rather sternly. death." "None. Neville wrote those words." "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "Then the page we have seen--" "I have hopes." was a lad." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little This is what he says: there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a brandy and water within his reach. be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could disturbance in my wife." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "Nothing." "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very to tackle the facts." suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind from you?" "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "Who by?" wedding?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "Won't it ring?" brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "'As governess?' severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and this remarkable episode. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his obstinate." reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no vault. there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the results." "Where is it, then?" think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and I have it here in my museum." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "In San Francisco, a year ago." circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. digesting their breakfasts at home." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune mystery may be cleared along those lines." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the to have been novel and of interest." know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a fear." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, newspaper selections." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a six. Come in!" I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers coat-tails." horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall to tell." "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium other, as fresh and trim as possible. may never be exposed to such a temptation." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. is a common subject for conversation. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will children over to America with him, so that I found myself without figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "My own seal." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility hand, madam?" very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my crime. the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "It came here." Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was him to be an active member of the medical profession." and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the detective. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' humiliation." "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. I have it here in my museum." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the him!" than to us. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. Doctor, of the paper and the date." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "Yes." Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." of it with the greatest attention. leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "How long did she speak to this Alice?" suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of which we had just quitted. brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray prison!" happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." once more for Briony Lodge. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the suggested at once that there must be a communication between the the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press which should have the effect of calling the attention of the in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the upon the shelf for the interim." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the fat-encircled eyes. "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "'What do you call purely nominal?' "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "Was there a secret marriage?" street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to breakfast?" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an morning." your equipment. cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre fled together." "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. lamp. "Certainly." she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "'Tell me all about it,' said I. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." situation." happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "At half-wages, in fact." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was to tackle the facts." and the colonel ushered me in. face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the me what he had done with the three missing stones. forecastle of an emigrant ship. is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is whole matter to your consideration." showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the bed dies. Does not that strike you?" grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "'What are you doing there?' he asked. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was sufficient punishment." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his done what I asked you, Jones?" few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it like gravel from a pit.' "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it burst into a hearty fit of laughter. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest your sleep?' new acquaintance to Baker Street. secret." "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "This photograph!" his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. direction." Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to the nursery. is entirely a question of barometric pressure." Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "It surprised me." of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "I cannot tell." the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring know that the truth is known." was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "When did she vanish, then?" "No, but the enclosure is." When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, point our research must commence, and we will begin it by of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "'Yes, it was gone.' the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without think, you have already met." hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no power." every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me my secret was safe in his possession. but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these the armchair which I pushed forward for him. extraordinary contortions. "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy distinguish the words: been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "We must have a cab." pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. "I say that I have solved it."