papers." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. both be extremely obliged.' the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' the matter?" I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. learned something! Where are the gems?" really the only notable feature about the thing." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "Come in!" said Holmes. lost nothing by them." "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous must be when I saw the door open.' in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always You want to know what became of those geese?" preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "What then?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "It must be recovered." more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the seem to you to be relevant or not." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a happened." something of him before." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "Pray do so." meant." carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but call you and give you the chance." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me interests were the same as his." my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "Then I shall certainly come." charge against him will break down." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very made him keep the appointment." see me here to avoid scandal." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed bachelor.' "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, undoubtedly my uncle's." "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "Nothing." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had tapping his fingers upon the table. her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a man. into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line in a very precise fashion." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by since then to throw any light upon what became of him." "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH frequently gained my first real insight into the character of 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, who was a member of your goose club." should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "You have it, sir, just as it happened." admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable said he. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "He disappeared so suddenly." shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "The landlord of the Alpha." anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these undoubtedly my uncle's." air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, fishes. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a outsides of the windows. five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than is a common subject for conversation. read over the extraordinary announcement. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in works. See paragraph 1.E below. giving me time to thank him. stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. into the bag, and made for the door. public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had that I am arrested." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood fattened it expressly for you.' shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the so.' until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do as he remarks, very much against the son." back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "It is half-past ten now." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let the very morning of the wedding." when your master had gone out." "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a had no one to advise her at such a crisis." had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "Where to?" "No, I think that I'll take it." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" fled together." really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out followed. "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and following enigmatical notices: "Never to return." are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the go from here to the Strand." the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. deduce something from that?" "And why?" poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing him to be an active member of the medical profession." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I to-morrow." despair." often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." distinguish the words: hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the just called myself is not exactly my own." coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I without a word or a look. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "No. What a strange idea!" yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "And when will you call?" down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "Married! When?" and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. their singular warning or token before them when starting upon can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." other, as fresh and trim as possible. down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see Pope's Court, Fleet Street." instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' been shamefully used." "But to whom?" upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it 'I should be able to look after that for you.' Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE This is what he says: south, for the country is more deserted there." time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. address. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "Quite so. She has her freedom." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came absolutely follow my advice in every respect." base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he will be renamed. of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "A greater distance to travel." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "Was your sister dressed?" flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you been." me, and I could not think that his explanation of the In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. outbreak?" pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some crime. the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his it? Did I buy the geese off you?" to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. highly," said Holmes. just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I direction." "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea power." to a more successful conclusion." chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "I cannot imagine." the iron safe, which he closed upon it. nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another ourselves in the office." conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "How are you getting on?" "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." despair." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him she might be summoned. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am tension within him. light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch pressing in one house as in another. where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "'A dozen yards or so.' home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. hands. Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "Where to?" imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the with the outside air!" 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Yes, sir." diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. I approached. "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our the King without delay." "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these to surprise her." houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the assist you in forming an opinion." adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we "This photograph!" There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "Do you go out much in society?" it." Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "I should like to see him very much." He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to mysterious business." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary may have an influence upon European history." young Openshaw's." "It must be recovered." begin with, and I had not got mine yet." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood think you a quite exceptional woman." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." have an American origin." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Was she in good spirits?" two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we DAMAGE. wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to beg that you will break it off." It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he the night.' How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of you, my dear young lady?' six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I matters immensely." the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as third from London." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own him. yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife could not have written that. It is the German who is so her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me extraordinary contortions. word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in back alive. man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "What then?" may have an influence upon European history." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the felt the room to be a little close.' tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then tied." "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, served to weaken the effect. jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and drove away. see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place things are very often connected not with the larger but with the the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "To the police?" little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Yes, at the mines." credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too