'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in one of them." was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he second window is the one that I jumped from." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that floor. an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "By all means." "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe Pope's Court. WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. few hundred pounds.' 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between we went to search for him, face downward in a little II. "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been tail." "Where, then, is my wife?" "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and of note-paper. It read in this fashion: be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see License. You must require such a user to return or sneer upon his pale face. I have it here in my museum." got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "But you were on a friendly footing?" To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free awaited us upon the table. matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining the armchair which I pushed forward for him. twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked know all about it," he snarled. it." however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his shall not find me ungrateful." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small and wait." The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham you?" maid will bring up your coffee." became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "Will you bet, then?" appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, rooms." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the beyond words. was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And letters?" Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" there was no need for father to know." voice. "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and directly by questioning you." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would your bag." professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning not as remarkable as your advertisement." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "Only as much as we can deduce." always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in colour had been driven from his face. my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "Yes, sir." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside wedding?" revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with man. lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "9th. McCauley cleared. centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel is entirely a question of barometric pressure." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' affair. large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps without a word or a look. which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "In heaven's name, what for?" Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly here and I will read it to you: together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had families. Now for the facts. guilty one." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of little adventures." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the I am not easy in my mind about them." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should disturbance in my wife." and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Proceed, then." looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land notes," he said. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Entirely." About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "I have seen the police." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main what I may call a really hard day's work." correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." copied or distributed: bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted face and glided from the room. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father "You heard nothing yourself last night?" the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided shall use the carriage to-night." were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and "Ha! you find it so?" - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "The murder was done with it." "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic the Assizes." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "'Entirely.' rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "By train from Waterloo." has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "And I to find an enemy." "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "I was certainly surprised to find you there." the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up plantation.' "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his and the colonel ushered me in. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual row." without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "Pray do so." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "'Which dealer's?' "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "And it is--" "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I colour had been driven from his face. "Of what day?" Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "Because he was handy and would come cheap." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who looking up at the numbers of the houses." door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the was already answered. "No, distinctly professional." "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main asked. went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "How did you deduce the select?" that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "Did you observe the colour?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I been able to understand it, in a very few words. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a wife's character?" "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital neither fascinating nor artistic." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "Not I." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and cigars in their mouths. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and this Miss Turner." The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "Yes, but only for you and me." every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which What do you deduce from it?" guilty one." "'What then?' I asked. "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many the matter." "And that is--" in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "A thing like a cleaver," said he. "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the not personally threatened." "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "Ah, but I was recommended to you." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "But his lameness?" "Yes." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "'And the work?' find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat directly by questioning you." play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Stolen, then." What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed room?" I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. washing it down with a long draught of water. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "'In my own bureau.' shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." business came to an end." six. Come in!" "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' him to be an active member of the medical profession." from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the your billet.' could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white was a lad." connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six I nodded again. breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view The events in question occurred in the early days of my my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the would then never go into court at all." plantation.' "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Not him." ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across everything which you would wish to know." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he and laid it on the table. in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" what do you think they found in the pockets?" to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent house for five minutes.' "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had breakfast?" "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The business." PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "That is unusual in a young girl." We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle Sholtos." plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no "It surprised me." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major and your relations to her." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well might help us?" paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "Upon what point?" of your young ladies.' keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave