here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and country, and eventually married, without anyone having a applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. opportunities to fix the problem. red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "BALLARAT." his huge brown hands. then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Holmes' thin, eager face. next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "Texas, I think." a suggestive one." head. So long, then!" vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to again on its way. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project humiliation." the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "What! You do not mean bodies?" bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "Quite so." of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I Cross for the Continent." imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." side. your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke his wife has ceased to love him." to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "To an English lawyer named Norton." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a could gather together that I was able to avert another public "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I "The landlord of the Alpha." shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, "A thing like a cleaver," said he. the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while key of the affair now." making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man Pool. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "I see many objections to any such theory." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "Was he the only applicant?" you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "Nothing." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "Did you become engaged then?" before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, 'please.'" that there was nothing in it, after all." which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we status with the IRS. pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "Where, indeed?" "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "And it is--" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked it." that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "Pray be precise as to details," said he. past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "But how will you look?" to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through one of them." little adventures." "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Literary Archive Foundation a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" off." "What are they?" ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were young Openshaw's." the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "The King of Scandinavia." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! something of him before." the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in should be so warm over such a trifle." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of murdered man." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it did not hear it also.' guilty one." brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she in this way: "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional secret." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "Absolutely none." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a putting in the horse. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most III. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better I have it here in my museum." heavy and sharp instrument." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" knowledge of the world." endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "I was sure that I might rely on you." along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped even so self-evident a thing as that." process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter vanished into the darkness. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the shoulder. my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the fish-monger and a tide-waiter." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. certainly not very gracious." down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the "And when will you call?" The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a green of the new foliage. and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, your most interesting statement." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared never came back." bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent future lives." another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst jewels which you have stolen?' so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while upon the white wrist. Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "'Most admirably.' his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "I am still in the dark." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is woven round him. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." room had already been engaged for us. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "You are certainly joking, Holmes." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as less than 26s. 4d. "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part to that open window." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as For additional contact information: his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "It is possible." that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed events than those which have happened in my own family." "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "Was he the only applicant?" carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an to where he stood hid behind the curtain. were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "What! Had he lost his wife?" that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Then you may be so with me." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "Where is it, then?" "Breckinridge is his name." among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "What! Had he lost his wife?" had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But very morning of my second wedding." great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been disturbance in my wife." upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "At what time?" "No." of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute call you and give you the chance." not, dad?" she asked. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that now. It seems that there had been some informality about their unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Has he come with you to-night?" "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Indeed! Whose, then?" you." name is different." "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We writers could invent nothing more crude." statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found redistribution. very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the presented more singular features than that which was associated public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "But the mystery?" "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "'I am sure that I do not know.' doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, astonishment. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of had formerly been in part my own. in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "'I shall certainly be there.' cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my his wife has ceased to love him." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can acted in my house last night?" or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an appeared upon the scene." him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "It certainly sounds feasible." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." bell. Holmes whistled. more terrible than the truth. call it cruel." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" once more. of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning and your relations to her." persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "Which are?" his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black words came to my lips. diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There for the market.' "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "You know me, then?" had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of "In heaven's name, what for?" "But what harm can there be in that?" and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "No more words. Get out!" firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this Foundation that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "'What, the red-headed man?' "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "Stoke Moran?" said he. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down I approached. recover the gem." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if Countess of Morcar's?" "'What do you call purely nominal?' there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the But Holmes shook his head gravely. "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must and laid it on the table. feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." fear." "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "Then the page we have seen--" puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "You don't mind breaking the law?" indeed which he could not unravel. jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, hereditary King of Bohemia." "But of what society?" merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and acted in my house last night?" you." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which said I. managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do the south-west, I see." have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "Bought." would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen