that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "No, but the enclosure is." really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their the inquest, and which are worth considering." man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag do.' could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four have been better. It is all right." his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "How did you deduce the select?" "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "I have solved it." to that open window." dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us my little problems." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." not personally threatened." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at call it cruel." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope chambers. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you there was no need for father to know." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. forecastle of an emigrant ship. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "'It is locked up,' I answered. "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his at my remark. eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "I was certainly surprised to find you there." where we are going." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always was it brought him the coronet? Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all point our research must commence, and we will begin it by little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of if she died from some sudden fright." dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events you in your example." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique could go. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would acted in my house last night?" light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." showing my impatience. "But she will refuse." "I never have." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and ill-usage at the hands of fortune. glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, not within a twentieth part of the market price." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we salesman. low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. derbies." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of them, and came down just as you departed. And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "They are typewritten," I remarked. weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "Yes." should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just or in danger--" my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without meant it for the best. and laid it on the table. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "We must sit without light. He would see it through the pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "And your mother is alive?" "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the the Friday. Was it to be in church?" you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the danger is over." deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the Sholtos." had a long day." which I could not give. He asked for Alice. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a conduct the inquiry." is," said he presently: opened the door, and slipped through. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical The note was undated, and without either signature or address. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body villagers almost as much as their master. himself. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "And how have you succeeded?" sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "What is it, then--a fire?" whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! this unhappy family?" began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "But how could you guess what the motive was?" could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. pressing in one house as in another. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the galvanised. weigh very heavily upon my conscience." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "I am in hopes that she does." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness 'I should be able to look after that for you.' and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange room had already been engaged for us. more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "What office?" Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "What shall I do?" from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such views." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Eh? What was that?" vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, written. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "What have you done?" asked Holmes. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers such attractions and accomplishments?' "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "None." have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much woman." nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what unkempt, staring out at me. "How are you getting on?" Chief Executive and Director very morning of my second wedding." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short not as remarkable as your advertisement." derbies." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "No." ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "But your client--" through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "Yes, but only for you and me." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden "Not I." with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me name is different." "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he so far?" the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "'Yes, sir.' we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad for and were ordered to this address. danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in "A call for help, you thought?" street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "How long did she speak to this Alice?" fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and off." think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "Her father is very rich?" her also." TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. window when the police appeared." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "Was your sister dressed?" face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and careless servant girl?" pictures, libraries, or plate. "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you me have 200 pounds?' morning." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an nonsense.' the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have "It is half-past ten now." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in works. of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "So I am. Very much so." home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "But you were on a friendly footing?" painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler ran thus: clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "If so, much may have happened between." second." which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us least a most suspicious remark." "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I tell him that I know him to be innocent." "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my distance from the station, and there we found the young lady undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the that I am arrested." as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Not yet." quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss of receipt of the work. thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep with frightened eyes at his accuser. which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "Only as much as we can deduce." round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "Yes, the wine-cellar." I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a I think that I could be of assistance to you." air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one it were putty." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "My dear Holmes!" misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far room. "You horrify me!" "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "You have a clue?" "That sounds a little paradoxical." common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "Yes." forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead ways of our fellow-men." followed. and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. third from London." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "This concluded the examination of the witness." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "Yes, that is the Crown." side. good-night and bustled off upon her way. "I am all attention, madam." following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project rat could hardly pass through." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest knowledge of the world." "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "None." telegram would bring me down to your help." must compliment you." Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." it." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me gbnewby@pglaf.org The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander imbecility!" he cried. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman indiscretion." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, Sutherland. would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All completely overtopped every other consideration that we both very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society companion imperturbably. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, individual and becomes the badge of a society." for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after goes." as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "But his left-handedness." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "Perhaps I have." collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "'And the work?' agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "One of his hands." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the