with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was of." seem to you to be relevant or not." warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he and the church but not where the lady lived." Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that the warnings." grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous and it need not interfere very much with one's other its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until photograph?" (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "Where is it, then?" quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the works. See paragraph 1.E below. the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew call it cruel." way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "'Never,' said I. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded drawing your inferences." "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." six. Come in!" is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few cigar and let me expound." "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was entirely devoid of interest." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" constraint." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." of them has the shutters up.' appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "Yes." "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "I am about to be married." photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family awkward doing business with an alias." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" something of him before." finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and wedding?" Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile cost them two and thirty pounds." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and observed. valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not use an arc-and-compass breastpin." side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" Holmes' thin, eager face. "I have a cab outside." it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "How are you getting on?" violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the stones. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "Yes, he did." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small you." predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of what I may call a really hard day's work." closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "What is it, then--a fire?" other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great foresight and the moral retrogression?" head. So long, then!" said he. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "How often?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "Thank you. Pray proceed." himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "So it appears." "I cannot tell." conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "You are hungry," I remarked. person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the which our visitor detailed to us. think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened the door, and slipped through. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "My private note-paper." slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which ordinary clothes on?" Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "What! Had he lost his wife?" myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "'Certainly not.' building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" business?" your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an the tragedy. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" maid will bring up your coffee." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most if I call to-morrow?" must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to your Highness to the police-station?" was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "May I see it?" blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "Yes, at the mines." branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "Eh? What was that?" Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small Holmes' thin, eager face. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would call the police, let the police find what they can.' my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the tell me that you intended to go into harness." you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "You horrify me!" my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "'Ten to two.' top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of chance." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I politicians who had been sent down from the North. to that open window." mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see will be renamed. "Did you become engaged then?" with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps of his shoulders. brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and written. "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty any more." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "Very much so." a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her breakfast and whispered something to her husband. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house on re-entering her father's house?" an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their I nodded to show that I had heard. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of mystery!" and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were she used." happened." broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his Stoke Moran." life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I a very grave face. was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "I am armed." two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we business?" never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his think you a quite exceptional woman." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send your bag." Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" unprofitable." threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "'Is 4 pounds a week.' happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "Then the page we have seen--" "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the here." enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a golden eyeglasses. "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap Miss Holder?" call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "Just look it up, then." very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent a suggestive one." about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may late." anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." skylight. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that get the tickets." "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' strode off upon his way. in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are status with the IRS. sneer upon his pale face. lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. the driver. mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means you in your example." tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to only touch the interest." "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "What of the rat, then?" wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an felt the room to be a little close.' Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "My private note-paper." the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "Yes." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "Seven!" I answered. the armchair which I pushed forward for him. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. good-night and bustled off upon her way. wanted for ourselves." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. in a very precise fashion." quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as and put his glass in his pocket. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the second window is the one that I jumped from." "Yes, the wine-cellar." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the to have that photograph." "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in relief. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "How are you getting on?" floor. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking daring than any effort of the imagination." The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. such attractions and accomplishments?' about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had even of instruction." "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would arrangements." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. the King without delay." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. frequently gained my first real insight into the character of this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less the coronet in his hands?" tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as depend upon your compliance." is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. remarked. "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that the iron safe, which he closed upon it. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "I answered that I had not. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he and put his glass in his pocket. going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the Holmes." suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you