leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. details." upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "What, then?" yourselves in at night?" entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "I shall be delighted." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner questionable one." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been was it brought him the coronet? carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might morning." look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past indeed which he could not unravel. the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy that I may have something better before very many minutes are "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "A greater distance to travel." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich shoulder. we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, mysterious business." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" his fortune, and I went back to pa. "What can you not understand?" understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "It surprised me." blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "What is it?" if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to with her." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had and the colonel ushered me in. "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "Well?" "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the night.' imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague the matter?" year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "How often?" Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't see me here to avoid scandal." "'I am sure if I had known--' run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall clang of the bell. "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been me, and I could not think that his explanation of the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, off." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went get the tickets." was already answered. delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "Entirely." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all morning." at a side door. Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "Then I shall certainly come." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "My dear Holmes!" just ask you whether you had heard it.' suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." answered with a sidelong glance. one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the very old mansion. "Texas, I think." "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the awaited us upon the table. of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She one which it was hard to resist. all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking leave you to your papers for a little." the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to pictures, libraries, or plate. himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "No. His orders were to stay in the house." a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "Very truly yours, "And your father? Did you tell him?" and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees during which he might have communicated with his friend the furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." have one." "Was your sister dressed?" "Then the page we have seen--" that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" "My own seal." returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As business matters.' always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever weighed down with some great anxiety. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "'Why that?' I asks. "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we mysterious business." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the experiences." "'Yes, sir.' "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all pity, because in other respects you would really have done very held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three done what I asked you, Jones?" struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the was used.' there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is Leadenhall Street--and--" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. I shall communicate with you." said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in think, you have already met." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own from the brougham. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door is acting for the best. John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over that he has suffered." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "Your sister is dead, then?" doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." do." The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. room had already been engaged for us. have one." his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "And when will you call?" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my companion. were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "No." "In what way?" asked Holmes. really the only notable feature about the thing." 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." the night.' the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "'No, I know no one in these parts.' that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "Breckinridge is his name." seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive lids now and glanced across at his visitor. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." Clair, of Lee." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "10th. John Swain cleared. always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from "Perhaps we may make them less so." are, I think, all that we need." respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous could go. cheerful." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "At the wedding breakfast." "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "None." answered with a sidelong glance. willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which is," said he presently: fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made been shamefully used." whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "But he might be a bachelor." the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look to surprise her." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached place of silver." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little directors, with the result that you have seen." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an front of the hall door has given its name to the place. sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "My dear Holmes!" and looked back. on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you down. myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, evidence," I remarked. "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, where we are going." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to works. See paragraph 1.E below. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. I have it here in my museum." "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at so.' time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the once more. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to seen the man in the road." "But she could not love him." clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he impression behind it as though a window had gently closed help us in this matter." foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from I nodded to show that I had heard. shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little fear." "Will you go?" "It came here." hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "Married! When?" for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" four million human beings all jostling each other within the wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry the inquest, and which are worth considering." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their once more for Briony Lodge. the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. the stones. which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this fishes. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong Street. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but paper in the air. The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His "And Miss Sutherland?" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she which we had just quitted. forecastle of an emigrant ship. should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face it with his own hands." "Very truly yours, "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "But he might be a bachelor." "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I and put his glass in his pocket. counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "'Entirely.' direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the