beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself strange features which were associated with the two crimes which my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an Clair, of Lee." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his present." prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it morning." "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "Where to?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. address. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "Yes, all." shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, six. Come in!" silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they "The King of Scandinavia." because she had spent so short a time in this country that she as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official was lame." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry look dissatisfied." "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and present." across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank forebodings. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, me. ready to-morrow?' "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. third from London." standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, ashen face. come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and way in everything. order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush than to us. an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could think you a quite exceptional woman." "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "But you can know nothing of this?" might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous it." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the waste of energy." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which fashion which was peculiar to him. corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which have I gained?" compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to were new raised from a basin. arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "It is true that I have been generally successful." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. States. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "There is the writing." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of business?" mystery." breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one points to suicide?" convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a chill to my heart. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. true." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "I would pay ten." practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. evidence," I remarked. and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "Then you may be so with me." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was "Breckinridge is his name." "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "Awake, Watson?" he asked. had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I of receipt of the work. papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his goes." "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door problems help me to do so." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "How about poison?" liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in copied or distributed: gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the yards of it?' "I see no marks." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together the very letters. But what is this written above them?' of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for which our visitor detailed to us. "Perhaps we may make them less so." work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 hands. for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said o'clock is it?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very Watson," he said cordially. matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been attention." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "What are they?" the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "And I." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of of his shoulders. and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Oh, fresh and glossy." matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, both be extremely obliged.' south, for the country is more deserted there." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project shall use the carriage to-night." "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Dark enough and sinister enough." you?" There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." the nursery. own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "No legal papers or certificates?" of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "Yes, at the mines." "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Was your sister dressed?" "Seven!" I answered. he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. Holmes' room. caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King union?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "'You cannot say what it was?' "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "Was the window open?" the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the tail." other, as fresh and trim as possible. call the police, let the police find what they can.' had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." made his money." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "You heard nothing yourself last night?" from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my that threaten you." was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with have been better. It is all right." his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "Then, as to money?" brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "But how did you gain them?" by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I handed it to him. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could you." "And why?" To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources posted to-day." "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I side. thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "My dear Holmes!" too. and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "I have my revolver," said I. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "'Yes, sir.' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "You have a clue?" you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There unprecedented a position." your equipment. was a loud and authoritative tap. that?' was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his "I cannot tell." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "Yes, from Horsham." bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "It is to him that this trophy belongs." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were key turn in the lock." Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "Only as much as we can deduce." murdered man." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "I have come for advice." "Stolen." "'Entirely.' sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found might have a private word with us. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "It is his hat." routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by hands. "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only to miss it." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "He said that you could solve anything." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, down from London to inquire more deeply into it." the coronet in his hands?" instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the matter over." tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "By no means." conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency asked with his eyes open. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. my little problems." "'You cannot say what it was?' I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "What then?" chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "I have seen the police." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. held up the lantern and gazed about him. "I have hopes." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too about here speaks of his kindness to him." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "Precisely." time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "The Cedars?" law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman was a loud and authoritative tap. with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. events than those which have happened in my own family." "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. exactly what you advise." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a the ceiling. impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way once more to my work. "Nearly eleven." behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "My photograph." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, when you have done it." his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. McCarthy." as he folded up the epistle. from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny pity, because in other respects you would really have done very roused himself from his reverie. red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "I saw her in conversation with her maid." cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "'Yes.' "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and crime." open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and "In heaven's name, what for?" frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent flock.' husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had for securing the situation." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all which was all perfectly true. law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a the night.' side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." Street. "Ten will be early enough." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging minor matters until to-morrow." with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a During two years I have had three consultations and one small "'What, the red-headed man?' Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain suddenly upon us." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey