Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am you do it in twenty minutes!' "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "Yes?" "Murdered?" he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in and glanced through. with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, which our visitor detailed to us. would then never go into court at all." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "I should like to see him very much." remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the indeed which he could not unravel. "'Where to?' access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given that you saw all that I did." Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "Murdered?" before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Stoke Moran?" said he. "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any Street. lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few people in all walks of life. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "In heaven's name, what for?" became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." "It is true that I have been generally successful." could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "Come in!" said Holmes. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts again before evening." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was the matter." it." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "Did he not advertise?" "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he Sholtos." "You horrify me!" work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "And it is--" murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "I will do it." "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "It certainly sounds feasible." gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "Then I am your man." the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a bears upon the case?" vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps to where he stood hid behind the curtain. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "What do you mean?" The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. strength in the others." weapon." once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "You will not go there first?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quickly through a disagreeable task. would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "How are you getting on?" eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard signal between you and your father? Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "We have tried and failed." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "I would pay ten." said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the ways of our fellow-men." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" help us in this matter." thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the sake, don't!" machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him security.' "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know "And help." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "That you are never beaten." entirely lost his self-respect." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her could not have written that. It is the German who is so "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "You are all wrong." Sholtos." "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "I should wish to." grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small to change my dress. there was no need for father to know." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "'Entirely.' "'And the work?' cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then room?" nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it it. as the one I chose?' in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "I am to be neutral?" arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a to-night's adventure." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not article?" "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," of campaign. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "Dirty?" what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a visitors." seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the present." to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn bachelor.' the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to the coronet in his hands?" Holmes. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "I am sure." manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one his eyes and forehead. over with notes and figures. for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" death." and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "'What are you doing there?' he asked. round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the made him keep the appointment." a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the written, and locked the door of the office after me. home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest of Mr. Rucastle's." arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "It is true that I have been generally successful." one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running stood on the top of it. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "Where, indeed?" admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some distinguish the words: read it out to me." would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, to miss it." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "What then?" mystery!" confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "How many? I don't know." forbidden door. "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came call for it in person on Monday morning.' before, for it was considerably after midnight. Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "Yes, it was twisted." "You horrify me." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "'And the work?' a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "But you were on a friendly footing?" house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very the driver. with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "My opinion is in no way altered." I leave." conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a in him." things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Yes." do.' being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his outsides of the windows. with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the matter over." the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the present." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" beyond words. her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is to surprise her." for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell relation between them, and what the object of his repeated my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at about here speaks of his kindness to him." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers Where does the thing come from?' seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it events than those which have happened in my own family." her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door question you as to those details which seem to me to be most conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really read it out to me." upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "It is a murder, then?" wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our everything which you would wish to know." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and my former friend and companion. all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of details." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "Have you her photograph?" Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open "Was the window open?" "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in the one as in the other." fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable and have this put in the evening papers." silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of of his shoulders. work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no again." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my bird of prey. "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" if she died from some sudden fright." round and wave him away like that.' "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in know that the truth is known." How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the possible that we could bring him back to her? deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other redistribution. that I am arrested." held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at province." next day. "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said Where does the thing come from?' enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose neither fascinating nor artistic." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a may never be exposed to such a temptation." 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" beyond words. "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never despair." arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the tell me that you intended to go into harness." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have "From his hat?" At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "Very much so." "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "I have solved it." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he with you alone." compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "He is still with you, I presume?" hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with points to suicide?" distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "I think it very unlikely." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish lumber-room." giving me time to thank him. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." Dr. Gregory B. Newby into her hand at the door and which lured her within their say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the