opened the door, and slipped through. "I came to find a friend." a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in the stones. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing you." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already questionable one." upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should of the efforts of the United States government and of the better for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are During two years I have had three consultations and one small "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" and that he would see to anything that turned up. he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "What then?" You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness second window is the one that I jumped from." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep wedding?" "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary said he. myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is guilty parties." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "Very much so." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in of campaign. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only strength in the others." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a rat could hardly pass through." had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no "In which, sir?" why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" presented more singular features than that which was associated paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." so.' pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "That is unusual in a young girl." "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call the tragedy. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, skylight. "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will place, I think that there is good ground to think that the hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "It is possible." go from here to the Strand." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "He said too much." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper seem to you to be relevant or not." the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to within hail.' have accepted such a situation. I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid was once confined in the cab my mission was practically civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "When did it break out?" when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so soul! here is her carriage at the door." brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "Nothing." "Witness: Nothing definite. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise II. Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the fait accompli?" paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "You did not overhear what they said?" folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love "I will get her to show me." hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few been shamefully used." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." ill-usage at the hands of fortune. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "I would pay ten." "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "Very much so." "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In was shining brightly. obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "There are none." himself. "Deserted you?" wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "'Stolen!' he cried. "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a shoulder; "he's all right." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the questioning and rather startled gaze. He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too which should have the effect of calling the attention of the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Oh, fresh and glossy." "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "Where, then, is my wife?" "'Entirely.' Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Ah!" I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "Yes, sir." "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "And your father? Did you tell him?" another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest hair?' the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he that, and I came down." used to be." myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a Pope's Court. Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "Thank you. Pray proceed." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the http://gutenberg.net/license). his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, points in connection with it which never have been, and probably could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "'Quite sure, dad.' do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, behind me. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "Your French gold?" whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation the stones. time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study what I may call a really hard day's work." in the hope of finding them." respectable self." there is a decided draught." "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." companion. agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "Yes, certainly." "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped been able to understand it, in a very few words. his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like invisible to me," I remarked. equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His started for the Temple to see my husband. over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "I was mad--insane." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "And who is her maid?" correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." humiliation." me." of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he searched, without anything being found which could incriminate conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really fat-encircled eyes. "What do you mean?" from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the Sholtos." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would friend's singular character. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "You have a clue?" out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of noble correspondent could be. "I should like to see him very much." had died away into the silence from which it rose. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he been anything against him. He had for years been known as a the very morning of the wedding." seven miles from Eyford Station.' cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had later, upon the night of May 2nd." have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who time." "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. never will be, entirely cleared up. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be direction." maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran remarked. no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "And why?" good-night and bustled off upon her way. paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought galvanised. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "I am armed." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "That sounds a little paradoxical." stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I have seen the police." could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Not yet." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." time." consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "Perfectly so." 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very point our research must commence, and we will begin it by myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too observed. then?" "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to in his power. vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "Very. But will he see it?" the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I again on its way. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." voice, changing her seat as requested. fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered you, my dear young lady?' I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." chemical work which was so dear to him. "Then I am your man." question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, have I gained?" heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the returned to France?" "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know words came to my lips. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "Not yet." over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided do.' suddenly upon us." last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "Then, as to money?" giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "You did not overhear what they said?" better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a six. Come in!" quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "What shall I do?" had picked up in the wood. was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in and wait."