"Stoke Moran?" said he. old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. discontent upon his features. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "I guessed as much." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can has little to do with my story." Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger do you make of it all?" washing it down with a long draught of water. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I wedding?" got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler from the brougham. "You have carte blanche." 1.E.9. possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "10th. John Swain cleared. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. there in twenty minutes." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. too. your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is own family. "VIOLET HUNTER." absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "Thank you. And your address?" receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "Nothing." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "That you are never beaten." deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel of campaign. murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should that I am arrested." to surprise her." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "But it has twice been burgled." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, visitors." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become were unconscious?" minor matters until to-morrow." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love such attractions and accomplishments?' first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and key turn in the lock." with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "To an end?" "What, then?" It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "Certainly, madam." "Quite so. She has her freedom." "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "How about poison?" success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads arrested. You then--" frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't where she found matters as described by the last witness. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking locked." husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three his face. right! Sit down and let us talk it over." and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a "What steps will you take?" I asked. withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR http://www.gutenberg.net of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back what these perils are?" deduce something from that?" "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. highroad, where all traces were lost. row." never to learn it at all." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess affection." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Yes, from Horsham." crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so drawing your inferences." the coronet in his hand?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the me, and I could not think that his explanation of the seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my of fine shops and stately business premises that they really felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not security.' the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about the address that was given us in the advertisement. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't married her." "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the third from London." of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a was feeling which was the fattest.' Arthur Conan Doyle something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "I should like to see him very much." "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." "'There is a drive, then?' his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan business came to an end." drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that became a certainty. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but locked." should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler call for it in person on Monday morning.' went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "What have you to say now?" at my own good fortune. large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my guilty one." boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my compunction about shooting them down." comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just call for it in person on Monday morning.' door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either matters immensely." to talk it over. You want to know what became of those geese?" Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned not personally threatened." "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers I shall continue with my miserable story. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my into the room. hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "'Certainly,' I answered. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend one of the states of the Union." At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "Yes." away into the river." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "Deserted you?" "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "It is half-past ten now." cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would page at http://pglaf.org showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this congenial hunt. with some details as to your case." thought that she would have been so carried away." For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." of the one which your family is now devouring." call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." voice. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing he. "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "Pray do so." Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon second." and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what once more. success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "But how did you gain them?" "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "That is unusual in a young girl." stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay get the tickets." George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "How often?" It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was father's place of business?" thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "BALLARAT." it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the Holmes' room. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes written, and locked the door of the office after me. "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came to some other building. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, the stones. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that and no precautions can guard against." "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "I am following you closely," I answered. the room while you explain this matter?" house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the "It is possible." "I was certainly surprised to find you there." visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed sake, don't!" on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Pray do so." she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. there has been an enclosure here!" walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will Chief Executive and Director "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in written, and locked the door of the office after me. dear old homesteads?" his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "'Ten to two.' reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we you." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' your co-operation." "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and should be so warm over such a trifle." inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax front of me. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all tied." While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us call it cruel." there when the Rucastles went away." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no than to us. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought leaning back in his chair. "I was afraid that you were engaged." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was key of the affair now." as the one I chose?' I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "To an English lawyer named Norton." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" pity, because in other respects you would really have done very Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." golden eyeglasses. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed six. Come in!" every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall hands. daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which few hundred pounds.' fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were seem to you to be relevant or not." the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until the coronet in his hands?" "Was the window open?" be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "My stepfather's business papers." "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than locked. wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. papers." in his hands." stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how be. Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon overpowering excitement and concern. appeal." bill, which interests me deeply." skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of best detective that ever lived. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" there." Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "I assure you that I am in your hands." "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the you." "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a threw himself down with his face to the pillow. Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "Yes?" "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. my friend's incisive reasoning.