Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "That also I could fathom." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been me what he had done with the three missing stones. nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "He might." only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "It is half-past ten now." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what the night.' He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Thank you. Pray proceed." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that digesting their breakfasts at home." McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "It looks newer than the other things?" grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble sofa. This way, please!" "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small in him." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the and no precautions can guard against." my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me of the efforts of the United States government and of the better locked. very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "Stolen." routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An wedding?" shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not said I. photograph?" to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our of the vacancies.' which should have the effect of calling the attention of the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the such attractions and accomplishments?' "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of retorted upon me, and I on you." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich morning." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and made him keep the appointment." Munro.' parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a done what I asked you, Jones?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a the King without delay." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "Yes." what is your own theory as to what took place?" opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence question," said Holmes, smiling. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was said he. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" your Highness to the police-station?" force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR imbecility!" he cried. with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and on re-entering her father's house?" Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "You have the photograph?" which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a "I cannot imagine." only touch the interest." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall said I. ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if that there was nothing in it, after all." jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his and wait." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "He slept on the premises." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "None." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of definite end. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. was already answered. which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very train.' this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "In San Francisco, a year ago." "Can I be of assistance?" young Openshaw's." You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the returned to France?" not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "But we can't all be." The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some very old mansion. morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is power." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. there when the Rucastles went away." loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his room. and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The that there was nothing in it, after all." deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a points to suicide?" fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss you?" without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "I will try. What is it?" What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. the devil!" my special province." confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have a suggestive one." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." II. he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A interest. They are important, you understand, without being and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall the stones. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into true." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to question. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "Yes, but only for you and me." "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "To an English lawyer named Norton." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. weapon." The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "Yes." away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in "He said too much." dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that other, as fresh and trim as possible. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "At the wedding breakfast." the bottom.' his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from "And how?" presented more singular features than that which was associated play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of she slowly sank and died without having recovered her License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in may never be exposed to such a temptation." gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "Game for a morning drive?" the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect manager. "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" be. "Awake, Watson?" he asked. was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put point our research must commence, and we will begin it by Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each hard-headed British jury." not personally threatened." sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "You have compromised yourself seriously." "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "'What, the red-headed man?' stood on the top of it. you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "Do you go out much in society?" "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the that rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three not fit the lock." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and certainly not very gracious." taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "You have carte blanche." at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to detained." "And leave your case unfinished?" such attractions and accomplishments?' "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting suspect him." "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "Which are?" end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has some terrible trap for her." nice household for a young lady." the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "May I see it?" - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "No sign of it?" minor matters until to-morrow." feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon to arrive at through this?" villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "What have you to say now?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "Pray do so." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them begun to whiten, even as mine has." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is to surprise her." have not had my rubber." strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt washing it down with a long draught of water. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may of the one which your family is now devouring." there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here was not a bird to be seen there. "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but voice. seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The man. into the room. neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party confronted him. his face which made him a very different person to the round, middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little to arrive at through this?" it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "I think that it is very probable." Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between be.' photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "'You doubt its value?' he asked. arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal least a most suspicious remark." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I to Leatherhead. upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to one which it was hard to resist. conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "And you thought he was pulled back?" been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship and glanced through. difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they gone. drawing your inferences." and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and hand, madam?" have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I and glanced through. the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "Did you become engaged then?" had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what answered with a sidelong glance. it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "'About the same.' are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "And why in hopes?" conceal it?" best detective that ever lived. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." that he will be back before evening." "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. was a loud and authoritative tap. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "One of his hands." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in problems help me to do so." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm best detective that ever lived. out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with your only hope of safety." would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. directly by questioning you." Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I do.' "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "What is it, then--a fire?" without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to Watson," he said cordially. drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. child?' "You know me, then?" "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? kindly on the shoulder. wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "But we can't all be." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "'You doubt its value?' he asked. by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Which surely he restored to their owner?" he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some main points of my analysis." "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "You have but to name it."