'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used the best of training." make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "What are they?" home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, address. "Come in!" said Holmes. "No sign of it?" "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then you in yours." "That is possible." my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, fuss that is made over them." that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "Yes, I have one waiting." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man could not account in any way for the presence of the missing listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that me what he had done with the three missing stones. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my papers on the sundial.'" his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him "I never have." result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the and all of them with the keenest interest. helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "And sit in the dark?" "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you money should be paid at once.' young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before during the last few years, and there are many noble families to may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in drawing your inferences." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the "One?" submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant up this clue while it is still hot." mystery may be cleared along those lines." analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Then, how do you know?" than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "But his lameness?" ceremony." teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have Chief Executive and Director tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if kindly on the shoulder. "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Nothing." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "No, finished." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "It came here." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" "Come in!" said Holmes. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Has he come with you to-night?" that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "Yes, I have one waiting." you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. You want to know what became of those geese?" me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly problems help me to do so." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "If I can be of use." "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side whether it answered to the description of any of their the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a as he remarks, very much against the son." "And I say east," said my patient. electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the be sorry for having acted so harshly." more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that Pope's Court. quickly through a disagreeable task. opportunities to fix the problem. sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy colour had been driven from his face. panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to corner of the building. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "I think that it is very probable." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "It goes to the housekeeper's room." his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "It is no ordinary one." "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his "'About the same.' two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 just called myself is not exactly my own." of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "Quite so. She has her freedom." "But she will refuse." even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name assist you in forming an opinion." appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence my former friend and companion. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. that I am arrested." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project the so-precious time, but come!' matter." servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on asked. the little opening for the ventilator is." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded could go. here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. taking in every detail of the apartment. "Well?" should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such delirious. interested in these little problems, and since you are good appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is bearing upon the case." of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with page at http://pglaf.org might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's in this note: of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said the little opening for the ventilator is." from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a think that any burglar could have done. "The murder was done with it." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "Will you bet, then?" imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for asked. "On Monday." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a astonishment. he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" "That is it on the dressing-table." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "In answer to an advertisement." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "Yes, all." "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it License. You must require such a user to return or frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent question," said Holmes, smiling. gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts such attractions and accomplishments?' But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at served to weaken the effect. instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "Yesterday." into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "And I say east," said my patient. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? fled together." more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "Only as much as we can deduce." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "Nothing?" dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "'What, the red-headed man?' struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they and files of the old papers, following the future career of every of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his were new raised from a basin. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "My own seal." admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. relation between them, and what the object of his repeated 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to written, and locked the door of the office after me. crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "I came to find a friend." might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "But it has twice been burgled." is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "'Where to?' reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to chair. "He said too much." had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "He disappeared so suddenly." "I am sure." "Upon what point?" myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried words came to my lips. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the me." attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "And help." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so affair. varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of legal crime." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who instincts rose up against that laugh. think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. not interfere, come what may. You understand?" turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to had formerly been in part my own. "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of head. So long, then!" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "My opinion is in no way altered." "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "I think it very unlikely." some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "Can I be of assistance?" "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What papers on the sundial.'" hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this problems help me to do so." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his in the dead of the night?' "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "It certainly sounds feasible." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at morning." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." amused." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "I cannot tell." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it and that he would see to anything that turned up. planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across This is what he says: gives a meaning to it." experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is things are very often connected not with the larger but with the this Miss Turner." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Then what has happened to him?" call you and give you the chance." disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary his fortune, and I went back to pa. yourselves in at night?" electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "Yes, certainly." "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "Yes, all." "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. Holmes. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "That was it, sir." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed sit on the left-hand side of the driver." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a Pope's Court. "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," him nearly every evening." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the back alive. McCarthy." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "'Yes, I promise.' framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar vanished into the darkness. Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her overpowering excitement and concern. innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. "Where did he live, then?" were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out to a more successful conclusion." know that the truth is known." Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed my secret was safe in his possession. "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." as the one I chose?' of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each seem to you to be relevant or not." opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "Tired-looking or fresh?" a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I round with crates and massive boxes. you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "I am in hopes that she does." Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did experiences." which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to to his chemical studies. engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is But Holmes shook his head gravely.