The police have openly confessed that they can at present make of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all seven miles from Eyford Station.' betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "'About the same.' "Nothing?" behind me. "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I new acquaintance to Baker Street. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of my special province." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "You have the photograph?" "Did you observe the colour?" "I have a cab outside." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at again." wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: and it need not interfere very much with one's other until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My made him keep the appointment." I held the little printed slip to the light. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "What is it?" the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we looking up at the numbers of the houses." firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has light and attacked it." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. is now desirous of getting those letters back." It may be so in this case, also." appeared upon the scene." and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. swore that no one else had been in the front room during the very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "Because he was handy and would come cheap." you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her of a light. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these gone before you can get him to hospital." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "It was." fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her that there was nothing in it, after all." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "And when will you call?" "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist prisoner's face. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a answered with a sidelong glance. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been six. Come in!" there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of society." case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I the morning and make my own way in the world.' it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with society." "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold late." wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "To ruin me." reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he only touch the interest." Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and garden below. "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "What steps will you take?" I asked. a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An DISSOLVED. "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on purpose of examination. before, for it was considerably after midnight. "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, emerged. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to chill to my heart. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" man. I know him from the photograph." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all to-morrow." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "We must sit without light. He would see it through the evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "I am still in the dark." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured chair. upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few assist you in forming an opinion." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am to arrive at through this?" among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found disturbance in my wife." for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "'Certainly not. But why?' thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. your equipment. down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "'As governess?' going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of impression behind it as though a window had gently closed One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that horse could go." strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of photograph?" "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the pierced for earrings?" much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission such person." "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking foresight and the moral retrogression?" it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." this Miss Turner." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" cigar and let me expound." here." reach." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said once more on the important position which you have been fortunate zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "So I am. Very much so." it right.' from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could know that the truth is known." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out bled considerably." in the dead of the night?' "Then how many are there?" not interfere, come what may. You understand?" "Stolen." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "You saw the ventilator, too?" Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have name is different." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "And why?" there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "Then he might have called to you?" me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Yes, but only for you and me." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "I cannot think." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the as yours." are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg "'I have heard so.' important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" fattened it expressly for you.' "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "What have you to say now?" "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I before the coroner and the police-court." "Why? What do you mean?" thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened seen the man in the road." after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round think that he is innocent?" of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel to surprise her." had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted you in yours." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just ways of our fellow-men." were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," here." you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a man. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the business at Coburg Square is serious." Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to will be renamed. "None." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found be best to do. from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making envelope. method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "I fear not." without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the interests were the same as his." station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "You are certainly joking, Holmes." Holmes. his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. affection." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before McCarthy." the very morning of the wedding." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "Certainly." locked. are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend easy-going way." Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a individual and becomes the badge of a society." such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "'What, the red-headed man?' His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "There are none." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" out." hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally conclusions. something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their begun to whiten, even as mine has." statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common look dissatisfied." that the gas is not laid on in his house?" at my remark. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was you give your casting vote to?" meanly of me." much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in to Leatherhead. the ceiling. "You are all wrong." "In San Francisco, a year ago." The events in question occurred in the early days of my headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke "When did it break out?" client, rising. "Yes." similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his was already answered. The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some American. Then who could this American be, and why should he William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said Sutherland. elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt is," said he presently: roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel delighted to hear it," he said. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune enter into my head. your billet.' I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I Pope's Court, Fleet Street." rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "Pray be precise as to details," said he. eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "On your arm?" "You are certainly joking, Holmes." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that sneer upon his pale face. came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "I assure you that I am in your hands." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "How did you deduce the select?" Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes letters?" "You horrify me." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Quite so. She has her freedom." moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It interests were the same as his." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "'Most admirably.' nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Did he not advertise?" "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes