problems help me to do so." said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, power." returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "Of what?" works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had coroner's jury." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and most interesting one." any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as with frightened eyes at his accuser. princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "One of the highest in England." "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered already referred to. notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "And what then?" so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "Yes, but only for you and me." collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I villagers almost as much as their master. double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. respectable self." we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out useful material for showing traces. The double line a little "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "Well, some hundreds of times." trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Pray do so." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "I assure you that I am in your hands." would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little I shall continue with my miserable story. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "Did you observe the colour?" "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project be best to do. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a infinite languor in his face. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon The summons was a brief and urgent one. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon with some details as to your case." thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "Pray do so." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he from the brougham. "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white Sutherland?" Holmes' thin, eager face. "I shall most certainly do so." stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "'Where could I find him?' supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." in the port of London." somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little bachelor.' "I saw her in conversation with her maid." the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "Witness: I must still refuse. "'Yes, sir.' behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when "Yes, that is the Crown." Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that beyond words. a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs his huge brown hands. "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "You think that he is dead?" examination of the premises, but without finding anything which that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. strength of mind to control. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "Her father is very rich?" it means?" the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "Ha! you find it so?" young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "Precisely so. But how--" have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, into the room. the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which is acting for the best. companion. from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather without a word or a look. through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "What then?" delighted to hear it," he said. there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before few hundred pounds.' tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You more terrible than the truth. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "And for present expenses?" need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any to-morrow." back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my examination of the premises, but without finding anything which days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "'I have heard so.' ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine this remarkable episode. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through front of me. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward touch that coronet?' "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting written, and locked the door of the office after me. The King stared at him in amazement. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open better grown goose." broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall cause to be." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End companion imperturbably. but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must look dissatisfied." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." have established a very serious case against the son of the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I of the efforts of the United States government and of the better The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of started for the Temple to see my husband. of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I tail." time." rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "How did you trace it, then?" to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his instincts rose up against that laugh. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. that the gas is not laid on in his house?" envelope. carried out of court." which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old himself. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker easy-going way." the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "I will do it." was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." have I gained?" beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "Always." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. have been better. It is all right." a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. presented more singular features than that which was associated eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and bare slabs of marble. enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler weary and pale-looking. perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't Eyford." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear will find little credit to be gained out of this case." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "My dear Holmes!" much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my mystery may be cleared along those lines." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a stammered. from you?" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may purpose equally well?" is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to existence." everything which you would wish to know." were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural some terrible trap for her." of Mr. Rucastle's." crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A instincts rose up against that laugh. forehead. fish-monger and a tide-waiter." that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful the running down." "My last client of the sort was a king." ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in his forehead." short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "Pray tell us what has happened to you." to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." fear." He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "Not him." learned something! Where are the gems?" at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. had a long day." our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your it right.' quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper "'And what are they worth?' I asked. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be him to be an active member of the medical profession." gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how said he. this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to the coronet in his hand?" two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he ourselves in the office." "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there it means?" bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "You think that he is dead?" dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it Cross for the Continent." clanging. over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. wanted for ourselves." exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could suspect him." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the straighten it?" town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "Pray tell us what has happened to you." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "Certainly." without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but yet." serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "I cannot tell." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "What is it, then--a fire?" 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "And I to find an enemy." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this believe that I should never have any practice at all. occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot seven miles from Eyford Station.' sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant other means.' named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the outside." "There is the writing." "Entirely." strong and stiff." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this you understand?" I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "He might." into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was gentleman's clothes. the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this danger is over." sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made wanted for ourselves." "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings