It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "And that is--" "I see no marks." "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the mystery!" "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the hardly wander." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper cost them two and thirty pounds." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "Yes." what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he "How did you deduce the select?" shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "Very truly yours, rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Oh, fresh and glossy." you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the Pope's Court, Fleet Street." at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how fuss that is made over them." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "You don't mind breaking the law?" grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two His name is Francis Prosper." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "No, finished." Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the exactly what you advise." Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to I held the little printed slip to the light. "I will get her to show me." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "By all means." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now all-comprehensive glances. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Your presence might be invaluable." "To ruin me." they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "Game for a morning drive?" "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have business at Coburg Square is serious." everything which you would wish to know." floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too future lives." case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "I should be immensely obliged to you." arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "It is possible." that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have locked. few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could Holmes." "His face fell immediately. disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against could not account in any way for the presence of the missing error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram ago." He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "'Then let me do so?' "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "No, thank goodness, she did not." "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and and inquire as to the address." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "Dr. Becher's." the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when his forehead." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "They are typewritten," I remarked. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle desk. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. I have it here in my museum." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the It was close upon four before the door opened, and a that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every door?" 1.E.9. "I don't believe it." make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, "Just look it up, then." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to village inn over there?" such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We nothing of it?" breakfast and whispered something to her husband. had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "Murdered?" self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he you?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant in him." whether it answered to the description of any of their and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass have established a very serious case against the son of the should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "It certainly sounds feasible." be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "And the murderer?" that the gas is not laid on in his house?" lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "Well?" secret." call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question once more for Briony Lodge. know what is wrong with it.' During two years I have had three consultations and one small and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She works. See paragraph 1.E below. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we you came in." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far chance." small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and outbreak?" shall use the carriage to-night." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been shadow pass over his face as I spoke. the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." feature." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your as noiselessly as she had come. "One of the highest in England." outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. definite end. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may his cane at the bell-pull. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, "'There is a drive, then?' we went to search for him, face downward in a little dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "Yes?" wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, you." search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two acquaintance?" "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "One of the highest in England." "No, distinctly professional." learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "Always." seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what awaited us upon the table. was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but yourselves in at night?" I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in strength in the others." shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "My photograph." so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and weigh very heavily upon my conscience." be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may "Quite so. She has her freedom." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "Entirely." "It must be recovered." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. peculiar to him. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may throat." "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "Ha! you find it so?" "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness it? Did I buy the geese off you?" furiously. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "One horse?" interjected Holmes. again on its way. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "I assure you that I am in your hands." balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "Not him." "'And what are they worth?' I asked. extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At shag which I had seen upon the previous night. have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what and laid it on the table. which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, seen the man in the road." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation sooner or later she must fall a victim. cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "That is easily got." the King without delay." Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across money should be paid at once.' direction." were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange notes," he said. stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry and inquire as to the address." have been better. It is all right." 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible derbies." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "So I heard. You have him here?" acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "Very murderous indeed." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate lost nothing by them." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings hurried by. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." tapping his fingers upon the table. rat could hardly pass through." man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." me where it went to?" orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, crowd. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and have an American origin." character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be Lee, in the county of Kent." be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said will be renamed. his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my hands. "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe when your master had gone out." bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. interests were the same as his." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in for the market.' threw himself down with his face to the pillow. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from unprofitable." I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "The gentleman I describe." "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "The gentleman I describe." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE and a shock of very red hair. broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who depend upon your compliance." had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave light and attacked it." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the fatally injured? all-comprehensive glances. "But we can't all be." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used business at Coburg Square is serious." all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place gigantic client. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is think you a quite exceptional woman." behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall "He is still with you, I presume?" "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, I approached. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the me have 200 pounds?' and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of