enter Dr. Roylott's room." permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or Does that suggest anything?" this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it like that before?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or stammered. without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very way: overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled come either from the window or the door. My attention was Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen views." crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows cigars in the box." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of side. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of instincts rose up against that laugh. the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "And the cigar-holder?" it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of You can understand that this register and diary may implicate breakfast and whispered something to her husband. so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with impression behind it as though a window had gently closed in the port of London." "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "She walked into the breakfast-room." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "I came to find a friend." and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it hour." that he has suffered." its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "Has he come with you to-night?" window when the police appeared." Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give himself to tell his story. Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money you." Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My his cane at the bell-pull. were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My outsides of the windows. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is maid will bring up your coffee." between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I bears upon the case?" "I cannot say that I have." "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came round with crates and massive boxes. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "And it is--" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. Leave Paddington by the 11:15." The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the as noiselessly as she had come. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such Holmes' face clouded over. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, narrative." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "Imitated." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to Project Gutenberg-tm works. has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a "He might." used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party fluttered off among the others. years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were was used.' vault. forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "At the wedding breakfast." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to hurried away. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and it right.' The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. of a light. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your if she died from some sudden fright." bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, power." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so them?" total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little better grown goose." While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave this unhappy family?" with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "But who is he?" noble correspondent could be. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' of note-paper. It read in this fashion: of the vacancies.' but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "How on earth--" I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his of the vacancies.' follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by light and attacked it." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some had formerly been in part my own. passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and directly by questioning you." green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "Never." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to them, and came down just as you departed. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the at home. and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her detective. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "'Is 4 pounds a week.' o'clock is it?" arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great have established a very serious case against the son of the chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "It is very clear." "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear important." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me call the police, let the police find what they can.' wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if the one as in the other." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "How can you tell that?" grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "Here?" brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Never." dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it secret." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens you in your example." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. of this gang." thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "Only as much as we can deduce." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." highroad, where all traces were lost. "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is generous with you in money matters.' delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out Literary Archive Foundation "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is have not had my rubber." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "I know where it is." laugh and put his lips to my ear. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "Yes, sir." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I strong reason behind." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." reach." them, and came down just as you departed. dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. washing it down with a long draught of water. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some open." Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "Ah!" cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would States. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "I have solved it." landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account which are rolled in Rotterdam." connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in written, and locked the door of the office after me. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "'In my own bureau.' unkempt, staring out at me. had formerly been in part my own. hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "Where did he live, then?" Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. his face. to some other building. What do you deduce from it?" "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "Yes, certainly." "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "But not more so than I to find you." long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed without success. At last the little money which I had saved began and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to "I have solved it." is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "I say that I have solved it." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a rooms." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest business came to an end." the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge observed. looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "And how in the world did you find them?" "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "So I am. Very much so." "Here?" assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." instincts rose up against that laugh. "Oh, yes, easily." copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other beyond words. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him throat." "'Certainly not. But why?' and laid it on the table. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from against a man in the prime of life?" which it had come upon my father." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He flock.' The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "Is he quiet?" unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up lumber-room." went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "Just look it up, then." disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "'I have heard so.' him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front you." handed it to him. deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it "How can you tell that?" to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "Why, it's a dummy," said he. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "Where to?" manager. purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, sparkled upon his finger. which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you 11:15.' something of him before." "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." and that he would see to anything that turned up. "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. like that before?" father's place of business?" informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "The vanishing of the lady." weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "The best possible." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either you in yours." "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "Ample." "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "Yes, all."