"Well, some hundreds of times." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "And your father? Did you tell him?" another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "But you can know nothing of this?" secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the think that he is innocent?" "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for done what I asked you, Jones?" notes," he said. serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill promised to bring home. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Yes, the wine-cellar." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had not, dad?" she asked. the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" coroner's jury." used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his pressing in one house as in another. that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "Ha! you find it so?" well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "At the wedding breakfast." "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The deduce something from that?" in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of room had already been engaged for us. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "I have solved it." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any if she died from some sudden fright." freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "I am in hopes that she does." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "To an end?" the bed, and you in that chair." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "Indeed! Whose, then?" "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out away into the river." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." joking. the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found some city in a dream. came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these troubles have been weighing upon his mind. and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a lamp in his hand. He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any own family. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen gone. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "He might." of." "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his he died? met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." over here." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at troubles have been weighing upon his mind. upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in presented which may be striking and bizarre without being traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "I am still in the dark." "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "May I see it?" there has been an enclosure here!" obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in highroad, where all traces were lost. characteristics, but those are the more obvious." As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly quickly through a disagreeable task. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' directors, with the result that you have seen." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "And the cigar-holder?" and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." presume?" "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as her also." goes." Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing Street. Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "Of what day?" seem to you to be relevant or not." to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be miles off. redistribution. I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made which was all perfectly true. some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw "It was a confession," I ejaculated. card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty attention." there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "And now?" He raised his hand. chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "I think that it is very probable." "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is of this gang." business at Coburg Square is serious." day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at one's self under obligations.' "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their be sorry for having acted so harshly." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a and the church but not where the lady lived." it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in is now desirous of getting those letters back." "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which were wasted." one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may fled together." "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. held up the lantern and gazed about him. her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a until night should bring an explanation. breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your down from London to inquire more deeply into it." extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and strong reason behind." and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "Yes." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were following enigmatical notices: behind me. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "But the mystery?" Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "'I have heard so.' the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to see a sister of mine apply for." "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" might have a private word with us. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 the nursery. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the followed. which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said bears upon the case?" shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "But how could you guess what the motive was?" past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "My dear Holmes!" nice household for a young lady." detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: our word." printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "What will you say?" horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold Lee, in the county of Kent." been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "His face fell immediately. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the key of the affair now." "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and criminal. We have already had experience of such." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in closing the door. "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "My Mary? Impossible!" elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether you." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I over here." yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's true." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw the roots. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the lips." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "Of Friday, June 19th." time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique had died away into the silence from which it rose. the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "One of his hands." "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," companion. "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the are windows in it, of course?" and have this put in the evening papers." "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "At the wedding breakfast." "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to sneer upon his pale face. Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "It was." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two strength." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "But I am all in the dark." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny sake, don't!" harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the morning." you." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still without success. At last the little money which I had saved began the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many ceremony." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain threw himself down with his face to the pillow. obstinate." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in away into the river." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of papers diligently of late, have you not?" new duties?' this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "Very truly yours, hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and heavily into it. wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of the coronet in his hand?" you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some upon a handsome competence. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked should be so warm over such a trifle." "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands to a light-house. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building to have been novel and of interest." "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" speckled band?" "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "Stolen, then." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in the bed, and you in that chair." "Really! You surprise me." thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a unprofitable." "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "'Never,' said I. pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the I approached. "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and woman who has had her own way to make in the world. not fit the lock." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I points to suicide?" whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. I nodded again. Pool. "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. a little more before I quite committed myself. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "What are they?" Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing shoulder; "he's all right." get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "And the cigar-holder?" It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "Do you receive much company?" he asked. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner which was all perfectly true. "'Entirely.'