really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive yards of it?' "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "Dark enough and sinister enough." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I intrusion of other matters." said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "Was the window open?" That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without key turn in the lock." whereabouts. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this "I think it very unlikely." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper roused himself from his reverie. 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so attention." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the in his hands." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a all that?" first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked be. to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "Yes, the wine-cellar." have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "'Certainly,' I answered. Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of her also." them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, about. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "Yes, the wine-cellar." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. go back?" away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" only touch the interest." turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and mysterious end." long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys McCarthy's innocence. "This photograph!" "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "No, I had a dozen." bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and little adventures." quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "She told me to ask you." "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. skylight. writers could invent nothing more crude." "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The tell him that I know him to be innocent." been lifted and conveyed somewhere." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "Well." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a Arthur Conan Doyle "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "I should be immensely obliged to you." have I gained?" cheerful." him. 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "Have you her photograph?" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from you for a few hours?" "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand outside. "You have the photograph?" His name is Francis Prosper." and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "Which are?" the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR system of imprisonment?" me. You must get home instantly and act." beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and crowd. his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: that breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two unkempt, staring out at me. it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were but preventing her from injuring another. prisoner's face. Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if in the port of London." can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger some place of shelter and let the county police know what has police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? your only hope of safety." the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when morning." confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will late!' "You have carte blanche." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the these bleak autumnal evenings." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and children over to America with him, so that I found myself without the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." of Fenchurch Street." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "How are you getting on?" "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I intrusion of other matters." balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls this as likely?" Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." you, my dear young lady?' of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two the little opening for the ventilator is." sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to down from London to inquire more deeply into it." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." gone. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "My last client of the sort was a king." vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in question. the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My gone. eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the Arthur Conan Doyle "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was eavesdroppers?' slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the hardly wander." collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange it." "Deserted you?" When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "Nor running a chance of arrest?" Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of prison!" robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" excitement. abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the was not a bird to be seen there. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father derbies." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he done what I asked you, Jones?" dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." room had already been engaged for us. As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this pictures, libraries, or plate. and I shall be with you presently." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "And you thought he was pulled back?" the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "Then what has happened to him?" the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence unprecedented a position." "The King of Scandinavia." disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of bachelor.' suddenly upon us." I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the knowledge of the world." put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." point our research must commence, and we will begin it by lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We "She showed me, as I told you she would." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. beyond words. "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, shoulder; "he's all right." and the colonel ushered me in. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "He might." photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you colour had been driven from his face. "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "Certainly." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' three of the beryls in it, was missing. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have Clair, of Lee." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I recall any case within my experience which looked at the first that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His His smile broadened. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. distance from the station, and there we found the young lady array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. the south-west, I see." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his case-book, which he consulted. reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': in a friendly supper." "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a of the efforts of the United States government and of the better play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "Of what day?" the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "Entirely." said I. down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise do you make of it all?" rose-bushes. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil recover the gem." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "What!" he roared. "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit sake, don't!" had this final quarrel? myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." read over the extraordinary announcement. access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently