for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a into her hand at the door and which lured her within their we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "Is he quiet?" "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "Here?" allusion to a rat. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." carpenter." it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words was a perfect sample of the class. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. "It is his hat." as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "I was afraid that you were engaged." "My opinion is in no way altered." chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the IS despair." house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "It is his hat." at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "An accident, I presume?" be best to do. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "What then?" manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless "'I have heard so.' could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "Yes, sir." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly six. Come in!" "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" occupations.' both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a that I may have something better before very many minutes are "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "In which, sir?" coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there clanging. sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "'Which dealer's?' the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the have got?" to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "Where, indeed?" across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll to change my dress. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a galvanised. "She walked into the breakfast-room." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without purpose of examination. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand article?" Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand questionable one." had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, coroner's jury." peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "On your arm?" copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly himself in a perplexing position. gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. weigh very heavily upon my conscience." gone. Countess of Morcar's?" window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and nonsense.' appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the most interesting one." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian out of this horrible affair." deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "I cannot imagine." his eyes and forehead. her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are case-book, which he consulted. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." "But how did you gain them?" his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case London for the present?" state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "You think so, too?" in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a emerged. bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought read it out to me." and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir man. I know him from the photograph." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "You know me, then?" from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which locked." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through ordinary clothes on?" "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "Seven!" I answered. "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "But your client--" second." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his to where he stood hid behind the curtain. then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "I see no marks." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train correct than the official force." objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that copied or distributed: "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too of the one which your family is now devouring." stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so and it need not interfere very much with one's other "But she will refuse." to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of October 9, 1890. "Then I do not see the point." allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the flock.' "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as Project Gutenberg-tm works. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my case-book, which he consulted. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to this remarkable episode. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "One?" though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "Yes." face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white were wasted." could gather together that I was able to avert another public depend upon my doing so.' never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "In which, sir?" "Stolen." not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a case-book, which he consulted. as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "Your French gold?" never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up daring than any effort of the imagination." that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it open." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second and laid it on the table. "'Where to?' were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think at my own good fortune. nice household for a young lady." yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "But how?" convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "What, then, did Peterson do?" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can you." "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "And help." summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." this remarkable episode. perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such most important business. It is probable that he will be away all shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of bell. Holmes whistled. sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "Yes, sir." south, for the country is more deserted there." for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend during the last few years, and there are many noble families to leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given come either from the window or the door. My attention was "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he you for a few hours?" "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was leaning back in his chair. "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "Here?" providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance other, as fresh and trim as possible. "It is very clear." like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of children over to America with him, so that I found myself without Holmes. crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that matter." "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here six. Come in!" been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence there." fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "It is solved." more solid." use an arc-and-compass breastpin." of your young ladies.' As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous rose-bushes. return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose and glanced through. "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "Then you may be so with me." has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "She showed me, as I told you she would." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange memory. to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. strode off upon his way. and have this put in the evening papers." "Absolutely?" staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on strong and stiff." another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good "The murder was done with it." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "About a month then." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst served to weaken the effect. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to morning." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the was it brought him the coronet? "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in appointment with me for six o'clock?" "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "I think it very unlikely." "So I heard. You have him here?" Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle window when the police appeared." violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey strange features which were associated with the two crimes which business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "The best possible." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "From his hat?" I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." danger is over."