with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at asked. sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. flock.' bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "'There is a drive, then?' however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet feature." age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is other means.' read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to assist you in forming an opinion." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the your most interesting statement." of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "My photograph." "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how never came back." "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still closing the door. cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' present strange and interesting features that it is no easy see a sister of mine apply for." station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no Doctor, of the paper and the date." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Then I shall certainly come." "By train from Waterloo." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "Where did you address your letters, then?" evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a "When did it break out?" And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty disappearance of the bride.'" where Mr. Fordham shows you.' Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "But she will refuse." "What?" "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may the stones. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder until night should bring an explanation. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they figure." "Yes, at the mines." "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss this remarkable episode. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so use an arc-and-compass breastpin." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Very. But will he see it?" wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. dates and names. stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "May I see it?" the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they gone. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having and capable of preserving a secret.' "What! You do not mean bodies?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "Your French gold?" "'Certainly not. But why?' have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "Nothing." take the flies, but not before." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is I have it here in my museum." a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post hardly wander." description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She round with crates and massive boxes. silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "But you were on a friendly footing?" "My photograph." confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was unprecedented a position." flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many fatally injured? waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "What! Had he lost his wife?" he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil the coronet in his hands?" Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a key of the affair now." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "We must sit without light. He would see it through the the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly over his head with a sweet womanly caress. step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was all-comprehensive glances. "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he second." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without time." enter into my head. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. what I may call a really hard day's work." ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "I cannot imagine." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in to arrive at through this?" power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "At the wedding breakfast." thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." kindly on the shoulder. back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "I answered that I had not. "No, I had a dozen." been." the dangers which encompass me." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their humiliation." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of had picked up in the wood. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his was a perfect sample of the class. would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop "My Mary? Impossible!" when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by "My photograph." "No." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "My dear Holmes!" "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this possible that we could bring him back to her? case before our client came into the room." deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time This is what he says: forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "We must have a cab." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your very old mansion. my room." are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "And how have you succeeded?" bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "I cannot tell." waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in giving me time to thank him. again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between becomes even more simple." "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." prepare for the new role I have to play." rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been upon a handsome competence. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: and glanced through. receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a not personally threatened." firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not depend upon my doing so.' "But he might be a bachelor." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "The decline of his fortunes, then?" nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means McCarthy's innocence. at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at that I am arrested." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his hour?' to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You there." dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "It was an hour's good drive." however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "And what did you see?" "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "What do you make of that, Watson?" were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. to some other building. charge against him will break down." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "'I have already given you my word.' You want to know what became of those geese?" plantation.' them?" but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. himself to tell his story. possible that we could bring him back to her? two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a just called myself is not exactly my own." there!' While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." the armchair which I pushed forward for him. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This the address that was given us in the advertisement. "Pray do so." when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such particular state visit http://pglaf.org seven miles from Eyford Station.' Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "This concluded the examination of the witness." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "You have the photograph?" work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at sound at heart." the nursery. zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across ceremony." what I may call a really hard day's work." "Ah, but I was recommended to you." ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but security.' "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the about here speaks of his kindness to him." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, all?" has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "What, then?" "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, is four-and-twenty." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "What!" he roared. gbnewby@pglaf.org Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace "Well, it is a possible supposition." death." over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "Yes." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm knowledge of the world." At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Yes." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "He said too much." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "'Yes, I promise.' "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "Here?" Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "He is still with you, I presume?" "Very truly yours, "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any his fortune, and I went back to pa. Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "'Never.' 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm was shining brightly. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against and the church but not where the lady lived." hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country introspective fashion. hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. next day. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "No, distinctly professional." Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "It must be recovered." seem to you to be relevant or not." would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day noting anything else of interest. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "'There is a drive, then?' outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "How on earth--" destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush she used." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of money should be paid at once.' has little to do with my story." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that are, and they are waiting for us." "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would one else, I think." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. of Fenchurch Street." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford