reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his attention." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, future lives." clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "I am to be neutral?" Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "I answered that I had not. "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small green of the new foliage. became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, kind enough to tell me what I should do." southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. closely." Mary, has deserted me." cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or means taking possession of that which another person has a prior the iron safe, which he closed upon it. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from there." you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "What steps will you take?" I asked. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' entirely lost his self-respect." not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him crackling voice. All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "I beg pardon." Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then affair. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few read it out to me." "Then I shall certainly come." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, was lame." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "I don't believe it." fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in note?" four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the to miss it." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in "Very truly yours, cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." are, and they are waiting for us." put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of colour had been driven from his face. previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "But how did you gain them?" robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start hour." "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very himself to tell his story. money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the them, and came down just as you departed. "Frequently." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment you?' he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a mystery!" "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Why, what do you mean?" home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "She told me to ask you." something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my have been better. It is all right." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "Witness: Nothing definite. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." observed. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "But how did you gain them?" star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you discontent upon his features. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of mystery." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." little adventures." "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." get her out of the way." as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a murdered man." to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the purpose equally well?" believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "Then I can wait in the next room." "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and there is a decided draught." locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "'Yes, I promise.' happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "Bought." One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said results." that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace said he. are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Yes, they were peculiar boots." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. your equipment. point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "He said that you could solve anything." "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better look dissatisfied." B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Did he not advertise?" violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very husband's writing, madam." "But who is he?" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, and a shock of very red hair. papers must be those that are destroyed.' de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on "She told me to ask you." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from again on its way. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "My own seal." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary affection." look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose forehead. I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after once more to my work. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. national property. I was determined that the law should have its delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "One of the highest in England." "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" himself. who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "No." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Will you bet, then?" "His face fell immediately. to-night?' but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant your co-operation." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "And who is her maid?" "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "Murdered?" use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to "'Is purely nominal.' absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and thin, with a long, sharp nose?" a suggestive one." member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is and I shall be with you presently." jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is during that time.' be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this any more." "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang to-night's adventure." "She showed me, as I told you she would." "Yes?" it right.' "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "It is solved." not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did and looked back. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through again, where I was soon asleep. is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "Quite so." Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" washing it down with a long draught of water. it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in gentleman's clothes. But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, completely overtopped every other consideration that we both up this clue while it is still hot." madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the detained." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which in his hands." The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my particular state visit http://pglaf.org "None. Neville wrote those words." Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "Ah, but I was recommended to you." spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." an introduction to him?" playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "Well?" himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I sooner or later she must fall a victim. "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. the coronet at all injured?" case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the to surprise her." A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you and your relations to her." back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a handed it to him. the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at sake, don't!" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "You think so, too?" "But we can't all be." "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "No. His orders were to stay in the house." events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which back alive. having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the do.' prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of here and I will read it to you: "By no means." a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no Doctor, of the paper and the date." "No." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a retorted upon me, and I on you." of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "Texas, I think." word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "Dr. Becher's." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the strong and stiff." Holmes rather sternly. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is upon the sideboard." murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into be there in time for your coming." "And what did you learn from him?" which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said completely overtopped every other consideration that we both simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need should be taken.' "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood followed. orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "My dear Holmes!" are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "I will try. What is it?" and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "What of the rat, then?" morning." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." for securing the situation." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from to miss it." "To the police?" "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door to talk it over. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional your sleep?' pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and the stones. compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There hour." possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this I am not easy in my mind about them." Foundation "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "Well, some hundreds of times." the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He vanished into the darkness. hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "There are none." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "My opinion is in no way altered." the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Was there a secret marriage?" "Where, indeed?" "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is