half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of Gutenberg-tm License. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this have established a very serious case against the son of the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at gives a meaning to it." their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Yes, they were peculiar boots." young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not and glanced through. in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A for and were ordered to this address. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the all that?" of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of note?" While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor gives a meaning to it." observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." friends, not even his own brother. simple cases which are so extremely difficult." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my him to go away.' right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into voice, changing her seat as requested. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you past. "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. absorbing." trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he never to learn it at all." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have the coronet at all injured?" thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "'I shall certainly be there.' the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very to arrive at through this?" upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "'Ample.' been with you?" "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he coroner's jury." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "About a month then." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not man. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some questionable one." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "Yes." was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "Murdered?" predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from you give your casting vote to?" she used." dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "And Irene Adler?" "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "And how did you find out?" "Yes, he did." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" read over the extraordinary announcement. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "How often?" suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the nonsense.' crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, with some details as to your case." did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them any more." Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully congratulate you again." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his read over the extraordinary announcement. who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "None." "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should at home. of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his place no limit on the sum I may draw." "I shall most certainly do so." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Where did you address your letters, then?" watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save strong and stiff." up this clue while it is still hot." visitors." foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the strange features which were associated with the two crimes which roused himself from his reverie. "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be for its centre. "I am still in the dark." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. nonsense.' believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless returning from some small jollification and was making his way License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" wedding?" Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "This photograph!" me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "Why did you pick him?" delighted to hear it," he said. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through anything to do with the matter?" for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another kind enough to tell me what I should do." brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the important." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "If so, much may have happened between." tied." shoulder. Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements experiences." the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. "'How far from the body?' shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door presume?" If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project wife's character?" "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are be.' workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "Then you may entirely rely on me." The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend chair. feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort this truth that in these little records of our cases which you of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the strength in the others." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into already been minutely examined." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." the date of his supposed suicide." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "It is no ordinary one." dear old homesteads?" "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears started for the Temple to see my husband. that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." key of the affair now." some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that that he has suffered." that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must works. had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the I nodded to show that I had heard. Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father to Leatherhead. very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so the nursery. maiden herself was most instructive." Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." own family. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "No sign of it?" his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "BALLARAT." The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he words came to my lips. should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found place no limit on the sum I may draw." "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" future lives." "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "What have you to say now?" thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence for securing the situation." upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "No?" "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which have I gained?" her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the said he. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. entirely devoid of interest." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. served to weaken the effect. when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If lost nothing by them." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises a little more before I quite committed myself. I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the to where he stood hid behind the curtain. point in the dark hollow of his hand. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready your equipment. "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all way: "And how did you find out?" http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I conclusions. low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "I will get her to show me." railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly "It must be recovered." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "I shall most certainly do so." hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help of his shoulders. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small His smile broadened. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "No, finished." "And I." man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, up this clue while it is still hot." her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke like that before?" copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or golden eyeglasses. her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. in his hands." for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' room. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he reach." "Why? What do you mean?" the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the child?' certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to yards of it?' the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "'As governess?' arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her too. anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire Street. beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "Then I am your man." process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE business." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "And what then?" "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was wall." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." name is different." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "Then you may entirely rely on me."