hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, chill to my heart. "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You the morning and make my own way in the world.' doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty have one." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "I think it very unlikely." for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. quick march!" peculiar to him. "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the King without delay." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to the little opening for the ventilator is." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon to some other building. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a soul! here is her carriage at the door." he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the astonishment. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to disappearance of the bride.'" and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with and looked back. recover the gem." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a geese which you supplied to the Alpha." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful what I may call a really hard day's work." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "Nothing?" Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "'Yes, I promise.' o'clock is it?" than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "No. His orders were to stay in the house." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "And for present expenses?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this question," said Holmes, smiling. "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I Henry Baker is a member." customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we could go. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "I would give my fortune to have them back." place no limit on the sum I may draw." Sutherland?" face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the invisible to me," I remarked. you?" was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, keep the flames under. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "But what is it you wish?" shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a and a shock of very red hair. my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "Then you may be so with me." "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover woven round him. have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "But how did you gain them?" to-night's adventure." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "My stepfather's business papers." shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "Certainly." "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the detective. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, Miss Holder?" diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, least a fellow-countryman. Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have morning." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, his huge brown hands. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. even so self-evident a thing as that." way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. away to you." considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." presented more singular features than that which was associated "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of introspective fashion. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "Never." the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, begin with, and I had not got mine yet." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the Holmes." adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door troubles have been weighing upon his mind. questionable one." thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "How many? I don't know." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "Why did you pick him?" "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my himself in a perplexing position. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark where we are going." said Mr. Holder. "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "Witness: It was. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, Edgeware Road. there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, the tragedy. should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "Then I do not see the point." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness way in everything. "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late then?" nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself subject to the trademark license, especially commercial income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was examination of the premises, but without finding anything which how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the and I shall be with you presently." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the dramatic, in fact." Holmes rather sternly. "It is a murder, then?" and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us wife's character?" "But what will you do?" words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what very old mansion. ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: highroad, where all traces were lost. should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" business came to an end." but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "He is dead," cried several voices. usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "No legal papers or certificates?" of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and suspect him." happened." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "No." Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "I was afraid that you were engaged." Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "Not in the least." Holmes rather sternly. "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, you." While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at said I. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of place no limit on the sum I may draw." have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns upon a handsome competence. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, noise which awoke you from your sleep?" gone. wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power once more for Briony Lodge. in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest one's self under obligations.' electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk everything which you would wish to know." "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "But she could not love him." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at disturbance in my wife." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "That is also quite modern," said the lady. with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons in his power. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from "It is a murder, then?" Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "Yes." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "To the police?" lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a "I was sure that I might rely on you." "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "But you were on a friendly footing?" man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me when you have done it." had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "Dr. Becher's." people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the never to learn it at all." for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all to change my dress. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of ventilator." is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, get her out of the way." traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "Upon what point?" lamp in his hand. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "9th. McCauley cleared. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Not particularly." "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "And you thought he was pulled back?" grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light then?" galvanised. immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet my room." of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at front of me. of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of least a most suspicious remark." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." orange pips. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He approach us with offers to donate. shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." over with notes and figures. fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were sake, don't!" its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to woman who has had her own way to make in the world. possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall strength of mind to control. sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. colonel looking down at me. "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were which should have the effect of calling the attention of the it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "Here?" idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "'Yes, it was gone.' 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." hand, madam?" the stable lane now." and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "Your presence might be invaluable." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one unprofitable." homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon once more. fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea woven round him. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!'