Mary, has deserted me." "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished brain must have something in it." were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about since then to throw any light upon what became of him." he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to Holmes' room. fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, not fit the lock." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold knowledge of the world." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been happened." out of this horrible affair." Pope's Court, Fleet Street." small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. of." "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who congratulate you again." the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "In what way?" asked Holmes. allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "And why in hopes?" got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass villagers almost as much as their master. "Yes, that is the Crown." the side-table." which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless a good hundred miles off by now." why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the is a common subject for conversation. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one the address that was given us in the advertisement. direction." was not a bird to be seen there. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for will find little credit to be gained out of this case." http://gutenberg.net/license). home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his your sleep?' without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "But who is he?" tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in Eyford." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "No more words. Get out!" mysterious business." enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "On your arm?" convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "They are typewritten," I remarked. the inquest, and which are worth considering." The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "I beg pardon." her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at asked. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest investigation." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood soul! here is her carriage at the door." fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which side. the King without delay." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "Game for a morning drive?" "It certainly sounds feasible." case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." redistribution. with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small passage and a tap at the door. estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies official police." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my you give your casting vote to?" fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "Yesterday." was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, the warnings." disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where a little more before I quite committed myself. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 them?" is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as you." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. her also." "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. here." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "Well." "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to some mystery and the punishment of some crime." is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "Do you know him?" pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not call you and give you the chance." plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by whereabouts. means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time was a loud and authoritative tap. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "It's nothing of the kind." "Get out!" said he. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. this poor creature." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to way in." of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. woman who has had her own way to make in the world. answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some you." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "Why did you beat the pavement?" am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time The King stared at him in amazement. mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to overpowering excitement and concern. miles off. black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "My dear Holmes!" as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "Was he the only applicant?" his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me when your master had gone out." Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. the side-table." assist you in forming an opinion." "I will, Miss Turner." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "'I am sure if I had known--' acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' he bowed and left the room without another word. those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and approach us with offers to donate. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine mystery!" streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and she used." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after where we are going." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "My dear Holmes!" the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a the one as in the other." time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "'Where to?' four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he that he will be back before evening." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, looking up at the numbers of the houses." upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "Have you her photograph?" "Then I am your man." "'How far from the body?' "A client, then?" foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We have got?" the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "Entirely." "On the contrary, this is the right side." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "Precisely." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing girl said." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his have established a very serious case against the son of the year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, straightened it out again. profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and children over to America with him, so that I found myself without roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "No." think that he is innocent?" "Witness: It was. I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away important." "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "My photograph." she has been waylaid. There has been no result." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "No." "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us again." "'As governess?' in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring me have 200 pounds?' "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a your own bird, so if you wish--" "Yesterday." status with the IRS. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in breakfast and whispered something to her husband. very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "They are typewritten," I remarked. have established a very serious case against the son of the and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was case before our client came into the room." "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to respectable self." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the I approached. the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "I am still in the dark." conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled some terrible trap for her." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "No?" and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. used to be." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "My private note-paper." ago." fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for "That also I could fathom." "Tired-looking or fresh?" those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a one else, I think." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a the running down." outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "Yes. He waved his hands." I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you soul! here is her carriage at the door." "Yes, all." he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, character. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am had formerly been in part my own. "'Yes, sir.' something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike shall not find me ungrateful." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into that I can to serve you." "Very much so." gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "That was it, sir." opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the 1.F. little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being own family. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the said I. enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. redistribution. column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in delirious. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was heavy and sharp instrument." machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, over part of the map. "What do you read?" consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is friend's singular character. villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I cost them two and thirty pounds." occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." joking. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the is four-and-twenty."