a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in During two years I have had three consultations and one small "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best any." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "But I am all in the dark." akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "And why?" might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Upon what point?" foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of "A client, then?" "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an strength of mind to control. would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds since then to throw any light upon what became of him." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to know that the truth is known." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it relief. Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Nearly eleven." husband's writing, madam." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "And now?" He raised his hand. a very grave face. endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had is entirely a question of barometric pressure." body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "I never have." retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "But it has twice been burgled." very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess written. whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "That is unusual in a young girl." contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman figure." which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call cigars in their mouths. were new raised from a basin. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a woman who has had her own way to make in the world. interested in these little problems, and since you are good you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry "I have a cab outside." electronic works above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "Then he might have called to you?" "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "By all means." October 9, 1890. away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, that, and I came down." quick march!" south, for the country is more deserted there." forecastle of an emigrant ship. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "You are certainly joking, Holmes." gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of affection." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still him. colonel looking down at me. and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." showing my impatience. that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's death." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to chamber." occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." will he say when he returns?" so.' beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at weapon." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "'Stolen!' he cried. "So I heard. You have him here?" "My Mary? Impossible!" Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "I have a cab outside." mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "I don't believe it." it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look his fortune, and I went back to pa. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "Indeed! Whose, then?" delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes way in everything. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the security.' I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" interests were the same as his." take the flies, but not before." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To to arrive at through this?" bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will carriage. It was a chestnut." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who charged with?" other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When least a fellow-countryman. constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." later, upon the night of May 2nd." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' highly," said Holmes. "Yes, it was twisted." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." than to us. upon the sideboard." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows the ceiling. the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." his forehead." means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would noise which awoke you from your sleep?" encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called would then never go into court at all." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "'Oh, no.' was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "I say it is." so far?" the bottom.' "That is easily got." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Yes, I have one waiting." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an has little to do with my story." cost them two and thirty pounds." very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you and it need not interfere very much with one's other legal crime." slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was "Then I shall certainly come." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." to take care of herself." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier is entirely a question of barometric pressure." than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, Eyford." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "I see many objections to any such theory." and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink highroad, where all traces were lost. daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side to that open window." upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no I shall continue with my miserable story. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly might have a private word with us. cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a friendly supper." the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she hour." wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." green of the new foliage. been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream papers diligently of late, have you not?" had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, derbies." several quiet little villages up there." practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is weary and pale-looking. the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "I was certainly surprised to find you there." entirely lost his self-respect." top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your perplexity from it to my illustrious client. propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my official police." the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." note?" I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless "And your father? Did you tell him?" as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the Holmes." The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have The note was undated, and without either signature or address. was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his the matter." so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "In San Francisco, a year ago." examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for she has been waylaid. There has been no result." Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are business." it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all that he has suffered." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey the station." interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he works. "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a The police have openly confessed that they can at present make derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "That is not always so easy." had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to completely overtopped every other consideration that we both happened." seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try a very grave face. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is that threaten you." from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "Here?" gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "I assure you that I am in your hands." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is affair. thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "I fear not." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "I don't believe it." have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of ran thus: Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to "He said that you could solve anything." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "It is possible." "Yes, he did." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of lectures into a series of tales." "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now exactly what you advise." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that your billet.' parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "You think so, too?" "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the the roots. It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the address. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "It looks newer than the other things?" stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. there has been an enclosure here!" to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes may never be exposed to such a temptation." Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the said he. he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is thirty. "And is that all?" TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a matters immensely." the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "How did you trace it, then?" "There are none." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a before the coroner and the police-court." distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot