"On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went think, you have already met." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "He is dead," cried several voices. before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet new duties?' have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "'Is purely nominal.' knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "And how in the world did you find them?" and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off congenial hunt. "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his swore that no one else had been in the front room during the derbies." that?' own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "His face fell immediately. least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and bird I ate is country bred." up this clue while it is still hot." knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "Certainly." half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. Surrey." third from London." from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, late." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, "My dear Holmes!" "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "No, my brougham is waiting." "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and quite distinctive." manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a beyond words. that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. to-night's adventure." "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power head. So long, then!" for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch this man was intellectual?" "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "What, then, did Peterson do?" "The best possible." Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one yet." to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "You think that he is dead?" fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "Precisely so. But how--" some city in a dream. "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, charge against him will break down." good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle chamber." money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the indeed which he could not unravel. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his examine." unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with business?" to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching and capable of preserving a secret.' and capable of preserving a secret.' paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat I was concerned in it." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door bell. Holmes whistled. "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San Leave Paddington by the 11:15." his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the of the efforts of the United States government and of the better and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. money should be paid at once.' who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern it." chance at all." crowd. as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the bird of prey. in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any "Then what has happened to him?" labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has sound at heart." means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "No good news?" panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity Doctor, of the paper and the date." follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the unclasping of his long thin hands. until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "I cannot as yet see any connection." "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and locked." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, to have that photograph." opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the persecution?" step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he From what you have told me I think that it is possible that through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I ourselves in the office." large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. be sorry for having acted so harshly." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not at home. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of do.' left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "Bought." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" down. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "By no means." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what what these perils are?" "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "Yes." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he gbnewby@pglaf.org touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "Have you her photograph?" To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, entirely lost his self-respect." his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. it." 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large there!' and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "You have but to name it." send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it who was a member of your goose club." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was country, and eventually married, without anyone having a hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this money should be paid at once.' despaired of." "May I see it?" wall." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "Come in!" said he. though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in public press." Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. cigar and let me expound." When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought "But he might be a bachelor." "No." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "And you can do nothing until then?" hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "The gentleman I describe." the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, 1.F. "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The were wasted." him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced bedroom door." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat during which he might have communicated with his friend the first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he into the bag, and made for the door. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "This concluded the examination of the witness." keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. me, and I could not think that his explanation of the himself. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some this unhappy family?" his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and evidence," I remarked. "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "There is the writing." "This photograph!" "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "The Cedars?" all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with roused himself from his reverie. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his open." some terrible trap for her." might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "And it is--" tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "No, I think that I'll take it." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he attention." "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of had this final quarrel? and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in do you make of it all?" man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the Mrs. Toller serenely. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only fat-encircled eyes. you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Well, it is a possible supposition." lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "Certainly." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What Holmes' face clouded over. me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my chambers. accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an see me here to avoid scandal." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed this as likely?" "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I You want to know what became of those geese?" practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "To the police?" is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged purpose of examination. central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, Holmes' face clouded over. "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Very well, sir. And this stone?" nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage weapon." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with a little more before I quite committed myself. someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "Then I am your man." answer." "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "I cannot as yet see any connection." same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, you." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "I am still in the dark." blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "So I have heard." and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently clanging. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the gone before you can get him to hospital." and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The troubles have been weighing upon his mind. the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "Yes." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the system of imprisonment?" already been minutely examined." crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right easy-going way." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" detective. size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have was not a bird to be seen there. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "That is it on the dressing-table." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were your sleep?' "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' whereabouts. than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." or other trace. But how on earth--" were wasted." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in a monotonous occupation." they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "Imitated." the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to that he will be back before evening." Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such upon the shelf for the interim." pierced for earrings?" has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr.