happened." which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce together. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: over part of the map. "What do you read?" admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, "Did you observe the colour?" brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "By all means." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "No." 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom Have you good authority for what you say?" "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it Lestrade of Scotland Yard." rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he your only hope of safety." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to during which he might have communicated with his friend the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, chance." "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. politicians who had been sent down from the North. which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the unprecedented a position." to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter main points of my analysis." red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." II. have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able dates and names. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock said Mr. Holder. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "I have my revolver," said I. indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." thirty. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be on re-entering her father's house?" This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall coat-tails." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for people don't know." trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said From what you have told me I think that it is possible that wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." the King without delay." "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had to arrive at through this?" "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his likely to be some crony of the landlady's." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the bore every mark of being an average commonplace British and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "Your presence might be invaluable." "On the contrary, this is the right side." fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until outside. his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the works. "But who is he?" "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a to go into your room and bar your shutters?" status with the IRS. heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, I took the paper from him and read as follows: help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time he. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. main points of my analysis." Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. the morning and make my own way in the world.' "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always that you saw all that I did." you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "Never." "He slept on the premises." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we villagers almost as much as their master. surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger despair." being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "But his lameness?" chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, ready to-morrow?' Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed tightly behind him. come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental over part of the map. "What do you read?" formed some opinion?" arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "She told me to ask you." Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project of the way of danger. your bag." prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush than was visible to me." business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "No?" of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. very morning of my second wedding." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "And I say east," said my patient. position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You official police." time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more it right.' agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "'And the work?' get the tickets." minor matters until to-morrow." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his my room." however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to and laid it on the table. you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the here." "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It asked. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, was a perfect sample of the class. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as and inquire as to the address." waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which too. desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our the ceiling. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment narrative." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in was not a bird to be seen there. after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I of receipt of the work. distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "And you thought he was pulled back?" more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "Absolutely?" clanging. observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her there is a decided draught." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a colour had been driven from his face. beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and "BALLARAT." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over away in different directions, and I went off to make my own how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which and the whole place is in a blaze." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on when you have done it." gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons manager. particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to "Precisely so. But how--" repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. over part of the map. "What do you read?" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional direction." "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, conclusions. aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of I. "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the outsides of the windows. once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and put his glass in his pocket. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it lectures into a series of tales." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "Never to return." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "So I have heard." "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but might have a private word with us. man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon on re-entering her father's house?" out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "Certainly." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" awaited us upon the table. "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. Young McCarthy must be got off, however." thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "No more words. Get out!" said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more use an arc-and-compass breastpin." much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "But he might be a bachelor." remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "We must sit without light. He would see it through the before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms four million human beings all jostling each other within the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. place no limit on the sum I may draw." thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." there." "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the "Precisely." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a writer." gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the warnings." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "Well?" "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "I cannot imagine." Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which rat could hardly pass through." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an allusion to a rat. to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. it with his own hands." the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only them present such singular features as the strange train of real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the that and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need strength." "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never gbnewby@pglaf.org suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "'Oh, no.' "The doctor?" morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a acquaintance?" my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. perplexity from it to my illustrious client. words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom noise which awoke you from your sleep?" shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, his cane at the bell-pull. station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "'Ten to two.' who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, followed. took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have criminal. We have already had experience of such." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "Nor running a chance of arrest?" or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, bled considerably." increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. three of the beryls in it, was missing. has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are passage and a tap at the door. was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "'And the work?' the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, because she had spent so short a time in this country that she and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and fat-encircled eyes. remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled compunction about shooting them down." throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Her father is very rich?" enter into my head. "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the was a perfect sample of the class. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the appointment with me for six o'clock?" returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I at home. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the are, I think, all that we need." his forehead." key of the affair now." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just tell him that I know him to be innocent." "Was she in good spirits?" "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off some city in a dream. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there said I. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of States. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white think, you have already met." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you remarked. you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a the very morning of the wedding." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously the warnings." and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "My dear Holmes!" Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "I was mad--insane." part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing was keenly on my guard against him. your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend