Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small me. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "I promise," said Holmes. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "How did he come?" it right.' once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "You have a clue?" "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or Holmes' room. "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as the matter." "But his left-handedness." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "What then?" something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room advice." not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." business in the City. She little knew what. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts are, and they are waiting for us." slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Holmes." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "Dr. Becher's." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow thin, with a long, sharp nose?" me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite south, for the country is more deserted there." James Windibank. Voilà tout!" and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note is," said he presently: Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could his grey eyes. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to searched, without anything being found which could incriminate loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a because she had spent so short a time in this country that she remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were along the entire front of the house, with three long windows to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." peculiar to him. passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those gentleman's clothes. at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure village inn over there?" "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." have been better. It is all right." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off three fields round his house, and there he would take his A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "It is a murder, then?" Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do the inner apartment." from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into were unconscious?" about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, enough to aid us in our search." in my life." morning." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has of this gang." lectures into a series of tales." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady your co-operation." the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get locked. railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, into the bag, and made for the door. Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "That you are never beaten." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened affair. poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." once more to my work. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close What do you deduce from it?" "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" read over the extraordinary announcement. I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into new duties?' Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark over here." not personally threatened." "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was easy-going way." crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "No, I am descending." kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Who by?" was once confined in the cab my mission was practically instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All papers must be those that are destroyed.' interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while more terrible than the truth. bled considerably." "I am armed." and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I children over to America with him, so that I found myself without into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. present." "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left what these perils are?" number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church nights." "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "And how did you verify them?" encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so a little more before I quite committed myself. of this gang." "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are again, where I was soon asleep. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "How did you deduce the select?" figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her she might be summoned. I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and individual and becomes the badge of a society." at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "And the cigar-holder?" here." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this off." and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "It is no ordinary one." "That also I could fathom." the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of as he remarks, very much against the son." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his outside. sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." pressing in one house as in another. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled the tragedy. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the that I can to serve you." "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a directly by questioning you." charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the hour." London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "You forget that I know nothing about it." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Oh, fresh and glossy." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "How can you tell that?" "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the it means?" the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the for and were ordered to this address. "Certainly." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there to surprise her." all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you success. A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. it means?" house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "Stolen." for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of said he. page at http://pglaf.org hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, "Not him." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." side. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "Precisely." "A greater distance to travel." despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but amused." "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "BALLARAT." aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest wedding?" revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "And the cigar-holder?" "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that good for you to do.' "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with the inquest, and which are worth considering." "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink fishes. fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. status with the IRS. loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend of it with the greatest attention. "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the that, and I came down." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "He is dead," cried several voices. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two most interesting one." pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of and prosperity to your house. Good-night." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, on re-entering her father's house?" maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a with frightened eyes at his accuser. counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "But his lameness?" between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "'And what are they worth?' I asked. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This friend's singular character. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in on in his house." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "But to whom?" better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite that threaten you." way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "I guessed as much." deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; and that he would see to anything that turned up. "What will you do, then?" my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, I was concerned in it." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "My dear Holmes!" down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the The events in question occurred in the early days of my their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own o'clock is it?" shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "Of what?" to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "Thank you. And your address?" abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "Yes." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace at home. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. round with crates and massive boxes. "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I prepare for the new role I have to play." drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to of them has the shutters up.' at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and bell. Holmes whistled. all that?" front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. had formerly been in part my own. doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of his fortune, and I went back to pa. you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me obstinate." "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with call for it in person on Monday morning.' it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own impression behind it as though a window had gently closed to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "Not yet." I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not "Nothing?" "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we