in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "'Why that?' I asks. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during I. pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, place no limit on the sum I may draw." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her hurried by. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's have had none more fantastic than this." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat ago." fear." out of this horrible affair." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in side. over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "It was." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. on in his house." previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She burst into a hearty fit of laughter. to go into your room and bar your shutters?" to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "But your client--" he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, pound a week." from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "And I to find an enemy." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at have I gained?" "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since once more to my work. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my to a more successful conclusion." weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the trying to your nerves." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my the station." a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "Nearly eleven." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold chambers. most important business. It is probable that he will be away all dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining fait accompli?" Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he you want, then?' "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all amused." The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange people don't know." Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, there!' plantation.' "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your Countess of Morcar's?" "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "'It is locked up,' I answered. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We place of silver." beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was returned to France?" "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I we went to search for him, face downward in a little The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "No, distinctly professional." questionable one." "What!" he roared. wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, a few minutes he said that it would be all right. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little his grey eyes. "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "Well, but China?" eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" whereabouts. "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "I should be immensely obliged to you." completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would towards the blaze. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "Upon what point?" the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." which we had just quitted. INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting and that he would see to anything that turned up. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. union?" Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, nonsense.' were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two "How do you know, then?" confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. more solid." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the had no one to advise her at such a crisis." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned his wife has ceased to love him." the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post matter." will be renamed. King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five written, and locked the door of the office after me. electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much before the coroner and the police-court." some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "I have seen the police." the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a "Not in a good cause." pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I Does that suggest anything?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "In what way?" asked Holmes. empty. woven round him. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "What, then, did Peterson do?" than to us. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "Why, what do you mean?" his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "What office?" a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the 11:15.' exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "She will not sell." cigars in the box." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to which should have the effect of calling the attention of the in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but papers diligently of late, have you not?" through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some Stoke Moran." "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his had died away into the silence from which it rose. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the both be extremely obliged.' were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "What! a murderous attack?" over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is pierced for earrings?" client, rising. Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" four million human beings all jostling each other within the served to weaken the effect. hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "By no means." weighed down with some great anxiety. "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the your troubles." woman who has had her own way to make in the world. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last before the coroner and the police-court." "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." tell them apart.' acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than weary and pale-looking. "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." an introduction to him?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "That also I could fathom." in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At all that?" "He is dead," cried several voices. "And what did you learn from him?" which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' more solid." through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had sooner or later she must fall a victim. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may I have it here in my museum." these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at himself to tell his story. "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of might have a private word with us. that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" residence of the great financier. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole in his hands." permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "And Miss Sutherland?" "Not I." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "I beg pardon." man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I crime." The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with key of the affair now." permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "Tired-looking or fresh?" by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the have one." came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "The gentleman I describe." the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his tell them apart.' no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "And what did you learn from him?" again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as visitors." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "And I." soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "You have the photograph?" "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so outside." would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to asked. glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long back alive. Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "Very murderous indeed." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship it with his own hands." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the key of the affair now." other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he see me here to avoid scandal." cost them two and thirty pounds." "Certainly." the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, that you can jump it.' "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you became a certainty. right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened case before our client came into the room." remarked. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "'I have heard so.' "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. himself to hunt down. "No, finished." Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had chance at all." I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of together. A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur locked." me. You must get home instantly and act." wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together and shall probably return to London by the evening train." dear old homesteads?" sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." Dr. Gregory B. Newby other lovers by making love himself." London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of his knees, staring into the fire. Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With "But your client--" I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to London for the present?" spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Will you go?" advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "Proceed, then." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I on re-entering her father's house?" if I call to-morrow?" "I think that it is very probable." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and imbecility!" he cried. "No, my brougham is waiting." prepare for the new role I have to play." "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." happened." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a locked. side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those