"At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried spare." salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to at once, for I have only half an hour." Eyford." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by four million human beings all jostling each other within the myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, see me here to avoid scandal." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but Sutherland. be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long asked. Count Von Kramm." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever crowd. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all of a light. "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the vague figure huddled up in the darkness. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Sutherland?" annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "What then?" once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary with some details as to your case." of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit forbidden door. St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to not use it unless it is absolutely needed." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his the station." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself manager. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "No, but the enclosure is." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my certainly do as you advise." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Then you may entirely rely on me." "I will not look." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and official police." glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up what I may call a really hard day's work." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very newspaper selections." inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy residence of the great financier. sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be once more on the important position which you have been fortunate essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "Perhaps I have." "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become likely to be some crony of the landlady's." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Yes." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "That you are never beaten." might help us?" "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "It is to him that this trophy belongs." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and "Then, as to money?" unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, meanly of me." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking little adventures." justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a because she had spent so short a time in this country that she of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a gentleman's clothes. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "But how?" staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it matters immensely." but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "And the cigar-holder?" maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "But your client--" snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she hard-headed British jury." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a you." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an you, my dear young lady?' "There is the writing." deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their she used." sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "She told me to ask you." strength in the others." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them the stones. has little to do with my story." the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and face and glided from the room. "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the other means.' "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who politicians who had been sent down from the North. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "It certainly sounds feasible." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he Lee, in the county of Kent." "'Yes.' my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the in the dead of the night?' cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. south, for the country is more deserted there." stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Only as much as we can deduce." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass DISSOLVED. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "Always." "And help." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' then?" into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "But how did you gain them?" search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will down. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep in the hope of finding them." and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of as he folded up the epistle. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's companion. squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat "Yes." wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "And you don't know his address?" "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" will be renamed. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "Pray continue your narrative." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his open." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. fear." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me upon the white wrist. photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "And how did you find out?" notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, look dissatisfied." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I "What, then?" Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss all that?" you do it in twenty minutes!' who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of fashion which was peculiar to him. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "None." Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the spare." so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." ways of our fellow-men." McCarthy." rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. that I may have something better before very many minutes are "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." beyond words. quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "Ah!" moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. habit of advancing money.' gone. seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. to me. town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the interest. They are important, you understand, without being "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling a few minutes he said that it would be all right. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of showing my impatience. again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." have one." "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but hour?' note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our Henry Baker is a member." I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for unprecedented a position." dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had What do you deduce from it?" in him." the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my DAMAGE. inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "Precisely so. But how--" "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "Which surely he restored to their owner?" which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us and it need not interfere very much with one's other subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round he bowed and left the room without another word. "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my awkward doing business with an alias." John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over letters?" into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon some water from a caraffe. demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. in his hands." seen the man in the road." "None." upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. followed. "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it the stable lane now." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare burst into a hearty fit of laughter. compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "And from a noble client?" "You horrify me." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she to-night." "Look there!" said he. the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the wedding?" death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your me. LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the things are very often connected not with the larger but with the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "Where, indeed?" "Did your wife hear all this?" myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he undoubtedly my uncle's." "About a month then." my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "Certainly." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "Not I." them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and details should find their way into the papers. Inspector out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to the coronet at all injured?" may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly empty. month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "It surprised me." hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "It came here." dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite was already answered. before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than