"Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "No, I am descending." "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "How did you trace it, then?" Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had not interfere, come what may. You understand?" "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both for its centre. intimate personal affairs in this public manner." had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked of campaign. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Come in!" said he. I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his woman who has had her own way to make in the world. began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes a very grave face. We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his to a more successful conclusion." town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and present." "Your presence might be invaluable." "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more she might be summoned. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a leave you to your papers for a little." slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his delirious. had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was in a very precise fashion." the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, to talk it over. looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You as this. Pray let me have the details." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Witness: Nothing definite. during the last few years, and there are many noble families to some terrible trap for her." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, "No legal papers or certificates?" Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, kind enough to tell me what I should do." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I were wasted." "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a washing it down with a long draught of water. "Yes, sir." "None. Neville wrote those words." photograph?" scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my residence of the great financier. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was in a friendly supper." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming "No. His orders were to stay in the house." last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "'Certainly,' I answered. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "What then?" did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "'Yes, sir.' see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and III. tapping his fingers upon the table. light and attacked it." "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which the night.' and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel been able to understand it, in a very few words. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, more solid." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. tightly behind him. it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away vault. looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, stalked out of the room. "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection signal between you and your father? "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me Countess of Morcar's?" that I am arrested." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. name is different." prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "How did you trace it, then?" works. "You have compromised yourself seriously." beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple goes." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his individual and becomes the badge of a society." others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards eavesdroppers?' although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed hands. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of would apply.' crackling voice. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "How are you getting on?" you want, then?' "How do you know, then?" weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had other, as fresh and trim as possible. really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and pity, because in other respects you would really have done very you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, "Did your wife hear all this?" woman." greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very way in everything. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. girl said." "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "I am in hopes that she does." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in through." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "That also I could fathom." guilty parties." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the me, and I could not think that his explanation of the England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the the armchair which I pushed forward for him. little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "You saw the ventilator, too?" trying to your nerves." "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "Nor running a chance of arrest?" of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "She told me to ask you." half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed dead, shall be safe with us." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "He said too much." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over since then to throw any light upon what became of him." placed his cuttings. events, Mr. Windibank!" "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel there when the Rucastles went away." boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the fasten all the windows?" permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "My last client of the sort was a king." black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "No, thank goodness, she did not." of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless there has been an enclosure here!" every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "From his hat?" see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the affair. details should find their way into the papers. Inspector already referred to. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' the room while you explain this matter?" with you?" "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "Yes." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of have established a very serious case against the son of the bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she the matter." "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "He said that you could solve anything." "I cannot say that I have." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the maiden herself was most instructive." will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out the address that was given us in the advertisement. caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly spark where all is dark to me." opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "By no means." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black habit of advancing money.' "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but which should have the effect of calling the attention of the disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "How can you tell that?" their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "'Where to?' "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears will he say when he returns?" "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found your sleep?' desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I was once confined in the cab my mission was practically a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the there." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the have not had my rubber." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "No, distinctly professional." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Could he throw no light?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter minor matters until to-morrow." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "Won't it ring?" cigar and let me expound." away into the river." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been you." owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." begin with, and I had not got mine yet." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. arrangements." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "You are certainly joking, Holmes." and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire it." crime. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that trifles." "It is a murder, then?" too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to "What is it?" "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis and all of them with the keenest interest. very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. "He slept on the premises." "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the his forehead." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the "Has he come with you to-night?" get her out of the way." "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "Was she in good spirits?" conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly call for protection in the marriage market, for the present hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional and put his glass in his pocket. ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "No." hurried by. assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "Nothing." very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I strength." "'Which dealer's?' Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The sparkled upon his finger. From what you have told me I think that it is possible that year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which green of the new foliage. determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he