and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "Was your sister dressed?" even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "'A dozen yards or so.' number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and Eyford at 11:15.' Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "But you were on a friendly footing?" You can understand that this register and diary may implicate Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "What can it mean?" I gasped. into the room. Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "And what did you see?" bears upon the case?" to-night." surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single the general public were present, then?" danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in "You did not overhear what they said?" "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have ways including including checks, online payments and credit card building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "She showed me, as I told you she would." think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you following enigmatical notices: know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "Why, it's a dummy," said he. or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have emerged. a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. out of this horrible affair." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "Then I am your man." the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a definite end. more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "But how?" rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, yourselves in at night?" sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the derbies." "But what will you do?" houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Pray tell us what has happened to you." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his The events in question occurred in the early days of my no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "I would pay ten." people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black tell him that I know him to be innocent." I approached. Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "Then I am your man." "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of what I may call a really hard day's work." "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of acquaintance?" would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning pound a week." "Entirely." last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I he. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "What can it mean?" I gasped. begun to whiten, even as mine has." "'What then?' I asked. in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable look dissatisfied." six. Come in!" "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." husband's writing, madam." "One horse?" interjected Holmes. even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See it with his own hands." with frightened eyes at his accuser. "He is dead," cried several voices. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Countess of Morcar's?" Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass "Yes?" "I never have." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the redistribution. violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My writing, and yet I know it well." not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the purpose of examination. "But how will you look?" passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of business matters.' He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my maid will bring up your coffee." fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." sit on the left-hand side of the driver." interested in these little problems, and since you are good rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should and inquire as to the address." "Pray do so." been able to understand it, in a very few words. is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "'A dozen yards or so.' was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet both be extremely obliged.' preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest system of imprisonment?" felt the room to be a little close.' hurried by. her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I imbecility!" he cried. the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of several quiet little villages up there." them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential once more to my work. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm of campaign. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of relation between them, and what the object of his repeated she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable said he at last. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of shag which I had seen upon the previous night. upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "If so, much may have happened between." "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I the inquest, and which are worth considering." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." will be renamed. his forehead." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no these bleak autumnal evenings." resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "Was your sister dressed?" status with the IRS. quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. be. "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the Holmes." human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between approach us with offers to donate. "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again way: It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales I approached. Cross for the Continent." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. little adventures." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but may have an influence upon European history." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "Just look it up, then." way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "And from a noble client?" villagers almost as much as their master. daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Again Holmes raved in the air. at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As do you make of it all?" balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would and capable of preserving a secret.' I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and upon the white wrist. "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door Pope's Court. the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "I have solved it." See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside companion quietly. but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several giving me time to thank him. had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "What do you mean?" people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered throat." remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "I cannot tell." "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he salesman. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very 1.E.9. were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking fear." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, not as remarkable as your advertisement." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found swore that no one else had been in the front room during the Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was do.' the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future "Tired-looking or fresh?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "Yes." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly people in all walks of life. "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "We were both in the photograph." "Where, indeed?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say ago." impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "What then?" "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little tapping his fingers upon the table. homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "Pray be precise as to details," said he. which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "Look there!" said he. "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting at home. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. The telegram which we eventually received came late one night and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "But it has twice been burgled." "I should be immensely obliged to you." nothing of it?" in your London, you will know that the office of the company is Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "It is solved." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land lamp in his hand. indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, what I may call a really hard day's work." as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do Edgeware Road. the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City vault. of receipt of the work. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it enough to aid us in our search." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "That is it on the dressing-table." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." the Assizes." cigar and let me expound." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal to change my dress. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "Thank you. And your address?" I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." what I may call a really hard day's work." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was of the one which your family is now devouring." chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just visitors." was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. of the one which your family is now devouring." room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "I have a cab outside." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "No." both be extremely obliged.' just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion fact, we may call it conclusive." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing "May I see it?" Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at which it had come upon my father." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would never to learn it at all." "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. approach us with offers to donate. "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan."