"'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "No sign of it?" "My photograph." which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It is so. I know all about McCarthy." "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always The police have openly confessed that they can at present make and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "No legal papers or certificates?" exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "One?" side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying but preventing her from injuring another. 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled been anything against him. He had for years been known as a full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my outside. a very grave face. latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with sooner or later she must fall a victim. adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "But who is he?" goes." On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Perhaps I have." suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most mystery may be cleared along those lines." a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "Of what day?" which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can province." "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Then how many are there?" "What then?" Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "That sounds a little paradoxical." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided presented which may be striking and bizarre without being daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "'As governess?' "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "'Ample.' "I will get her to show me." "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which call the police, let the police find what they can.' "Only as much as we can deduce." with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I letters?" "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how humiliation." you." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "What are they?" has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off conclusions. the best of training." "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society respectable self." "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "He is dead," cried several voices. exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in beyond words. bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "In which, sir?" poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "You will not go there first?" "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case held up the lantern and gazed about him. of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "He is still with you, I presume?" goes." other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the know all about it," he snarled. success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to next day. door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "Yes." "Quite so." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, habit of advancing money.' some city in a dream. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "Of what day?" rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of subject to the trademark license, especially commercial "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this father's young wife. have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "The decline of his fortunes, then?" much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "Yes, there are nearly always some there." years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens the armchair which I pushed forward for him. than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, My friend smiled. believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it bill, which interests me deeply." already referred to. reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and them?" been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds "And how did he make his money?" the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the made him keep the appointment." "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded dead, shall be safe with us." room had already been engaged for us. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest goes." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had all-comprehensive glances. centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "I was mad--insane." "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "But it has twice been burgled." call the police, let the police find what they can.' "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "That is unusual in a young girl." read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The system of imprisonment?" James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "I fear not." "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "Your sister is dead, then?" feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this best detective that ever lived. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "I came to find a friend." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "He is dead," cried several voices. "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I chambers. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and laugh and put his lips to my ear. harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the the coronet in his hand?" building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than of the vacancies.' "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "I was afraid that you were engaged." home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "Two days later this same performance was gone through under About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a ventilator." is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is the inner apartment." dear old homesteads?" professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very if she died from some sudden fright." hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See me upon any point which I do not make clear." vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet the night.' SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "Which are?" still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social that frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest papers must be those that are destroyed.' "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "'Certainly,' I answered. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or companion. Lee, in the county of Kent." "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my eat it." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "I will, Miss Turner." prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, again before evening." "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but together. send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "And it is--" "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a question," said Holmes, smiling. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel with some details as to your case." observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the "I assure you that I am in your hands." his eyes and forehead. "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "I shall be delighted." and it need not interfere very much with one's other and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Just look it up, then." you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which you understand?" safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon it means?" prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he possible that we could bring him back to her? settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "It is a murder, then?" home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo strength in the others." the Assizes." were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for brought there to personate someone, and the real person is like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when a monotonous occupation." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "I cannot tell." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital at home. "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if had this final quarrel? "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We other means.' "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." helping a boy to put up the shutters. my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and such person." "I am sure." I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman upon the sideboard." hands. He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and upon the shelf for the interim." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, be best to do. attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the His name is Francis Prosper." "'Never,' said I. not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "Witness: Nothing definite. "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my point in the dark hollow of his hand. putting in the horse. public press." "So I heard. You have him here?" he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "'I am sure that I do not know.' one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "Could he throw no light?" entirely devoid of interest." "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "It looks newer than the other things?" utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there the running down." which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "I have hopes." from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his said I. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low prisoner's face. likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "I answered that I had not. was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the enter into my head. foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little fat-encircled eyes. fish-monger and a tide-waiter." the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "No sign of it?" prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to