her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted eat it." for and were ordered to this address. enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had of them has the shutters up.' means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "'You cannot say what it was?' "What then?" late." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "My photograph." you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general such person." but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime other means.' practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few very morning of my second wedding." something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it very old mansion. key of the affair now." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "They are typewritten," I remarked. "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do the one as in the other." "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the which I could not give. He asked for Alice. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and gigantic client. to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and hands. tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. and effective." I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, know all about it," he snarled. national property. I was determined that the law should have its again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and character. the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "'Yes, it was gone.' for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "Where, then?" array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "Game for a morning drive?" marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, guilty parties." a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless "May I see it?" stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with him. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of second window is the one that I jumped from." sufficient punishment." writers could invent nothing more crude." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have had picked up in the wood. arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal ventilator." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point nothing with him." even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "The vanishing of the lady." it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which *** START: FULL LICENSE *** have not had my rubber." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "That is unusual in a young girl." His name is Francis Prosper." "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "And why?" "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "Now, then, what's the last entry?" workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Yes. He waved his hands." mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "Yes." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his he died? "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "It goes to the housekeeper's room." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that, and I came down." on re-entering her father's house?" conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to correct than the official force." will not take me long to tell. "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. next day. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Only as much as we can deduce." home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 outsides of the windows. money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, she might be summoned. disappearance of these gems?" "Come in!" said Holmes. "I think it very unlikely." parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they mystery may be cleared along those lines." drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "I beg pardon." of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her the station." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" he died? offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding since then to throw any light upon what became of him." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "No sign of it?" it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." in a friendly supper." me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms people in all walks of life. "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "Come in!" said Holmes. charge against him will break down." police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "And I to find an enemy." corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "And how did you find out?" knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been acted in my house last night?" state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut observed. through." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to the house with me." "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "Pray let us have it, for all that." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and lost nothing by them." anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." sound at heart." lost nothing by them." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "No, distinctly professional." river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "9th. McCauley cleared. which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by easy-going way." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then little adventures." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has later, upon the night of May 2nd." how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We depend upon your compliance." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' more terrible than the truth. them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally nothing with him." "But how?" lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I felt the room to be a little close.' unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the character. league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was himself to hunt down. not interfere, come what may. You understand?" All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from was used.' Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in said he, "my real name is James Ryder." His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "But what is it you wish?" the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's if I call to-morrow?" "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "'Very good.' low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not and inquire as to the address." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And you do it in twenty minutes!' a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began looking up at the numbers of the houses." "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she "To the police?" vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "'Ample.' is worth.' and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "'There is a drive, then?' points in connection with it which never have been, and probably The King stared at him in amazement. "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "Is he quiet?" there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Do you go out much in society?" petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low if she died from some sudden fright." had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "To ruin me." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." shag which I had seen upon the previous night. it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of who was a member of your goose club." provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our stalked out of the room. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At companion quietly. get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, breakfast?" IS "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that you do it in twenty minutes!' shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his guilty parties." crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." outside." nothing with him." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the his fortune, and I went back to pa. "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "Breckinridge is his name." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the date of his supposed suicide." "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "What!" he roared. "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "How many? I don't know." Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "'There is a drive, then?' there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The colonel looking down at me. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to Surrey." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious sooner or later she must fall a victim. "And how did he make his money?" the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said perplexity from it to my illustrious client. My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," your co-operation." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' bearing upon the case." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me to where he stood hid behind the curtain. leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an narrative." cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then American. Then who could this American be, and why should he "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." upon the shelf for the interim." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father was keenly on my guard against him. Henry Baker is a member." forecastle of an emigrant ship. With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "She showed me, as I told you she would." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken you." "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great sooner or later she must fall a victim. known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "Then what has happened to him?" and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." here and I will read it to you: and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "'Certainly,' I answered. to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "'Certainly not.' this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." III. fact, we may call it conclusive." mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "No, thank goodness, she did not." "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in all-comprehensive glances. stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his