XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she burst into a hearty fit of laughter. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he of the vacancies.' or other trace. But how on earth--" she might be summoned. Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the three fields round his house, and there he would take his to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to appeal." my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it went to the Alpha were town bred." been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I him." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear Lee, in the county of Kent." newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to these bleak autumnal evenings." once more. you." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "And Miss Sutherland?" for the market.' counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." the roots. and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "'Never.' reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "Very murderous indeed." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a have been better. It is all right." "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the is worth.' to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates future lives." "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which of his shoulders. those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they it right.' really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "What have you to say now?" mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian conceal it?" "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "Not yet." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "'In my own bureau.' pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "But his lameness?" The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them in this note: "Certainly." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that of the vacancies.' "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of to change my dress. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "How do you know, then?" thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature crackling voice. quickly through a disagreeable task. triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I cigars in their mouths. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am felt the room to be a little close.' "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in such person." first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper and files of the old papers, following the future career of every nonsense.' wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "My opinion is in no way altered." a suggestive one." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the your bag." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for 11:15.' "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," from the brougham. therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here since then to throw any light upon what became of him." and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We "I cannot imagine." details should find their way into the papers. Inspector hurried away. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their situation." through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a knowledge of the world." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." tell me that you intended to go into harness." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. but preventing her from injuring another. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were could go. contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two kind enough to tell me what I should do." round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out which I could not give. He asked for Alice. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "Then I do not see the point." office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, power." beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and into her hand at the door and which lured her within their the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any approach us with offers to donate. Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. neither fascinating nor artistic." drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" directors, with the result that you have seen." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "But his left-handedness." he died? hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us stood on the top of it. slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide believe that I should never have any practice at all. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "Which surely he restored to their owner?" when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "My dear Holmes!" photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door which it had come upon my father." your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "Yes, but only for you and me." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain for and were ordered to this address. "'Is purely nominal.' 'I should be able to look after that for you.' once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we correct than the official force." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. fattened it expressly for you.' "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips do.' "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "'In my own bureau.' could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "'How far from the body?' this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, questioning and rather startled gaze. judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal are, I think, all that we need." "But he might be a bachelor." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to your co-operation." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "What then?" "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which and all of them with the keenest interest. take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very individual and becomes the badge of a society." at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His developed." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my posted to-day." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the excitement. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "I will not look." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "That is also quite modern," said the lady. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away important." Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup happened." think you a quite exceptional woman." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "On your arm?" corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. this unhappy family?" rooms." "I saw her in conversation with her maid." that?' business?" "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a letters?" been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young neither fascinating nor artistic." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" helping a boy to put up the shutters. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend yourselves in at night?" far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress Doctor, of the paper and the date." Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "Was he the only applicant?" knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "My last client of the sort was a king." chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "No, my brougham is waiting." "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Were they all fastened this morning?" had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "But to whom?" of." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot his fortune, and I went back to pa. "I would give my fortune to have them back." "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling grasp, he hurried from the room. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "And when will you call?" "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of a few minutes he said that it would be all right. ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." papers on the sundial.'" "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind ashen face. was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself pictures, libraries, or plate. think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project disappearance of these gems?" the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his eavesdroppers?' "'Yes, sir.' "But his lameness?" "An accident, I presume?" just ask you whether you had heard it.' thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do with her." house for five minutes.' smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in way in everything. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman in this note: When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with remarked. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "But how?" "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp nights." somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "You'll never persuade me to believe that." "And what did you learn from him?" But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in the bed, and you in that chair." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. Eyford." ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Stoke Moran?" said he. late!' "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "And is that all?" "Have you it here?" "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "Yes, from Horsham." this as likely?" makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "'Most admirably.' "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "Pray do so." became a certainty. honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable definite end. astonishment. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "Certainly." "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "But who is he?" believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "I think that I had better go, Holmes." then?" located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the stammered. the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had me. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I the loss of it. feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "I should like to see him very much." more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "No, thank goodness, she did not." to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "Come in!" said he.