desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "And what did you see?" whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so room?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. DISSOLVED. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped as he remarks, very much against the son." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "I am about to be married." life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, seen the man in the road." "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the man. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' 11:15.' down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke in a friendly supper." "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried The events in question occurred in the early days of my "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was the loss of it. two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "No good news?" with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "At the wedding breakfast." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the This is what he says: village inn over there?" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "And who is her maid?" "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. roused himself from his reverie. was a perfect sample of the class. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" brandy and water within his reach. the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the criminal. We have already had experience of such." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "What of the rat, then?" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "Did your wife hear all this?" and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, invisible to me," I remarked. Where does the thing come from?' the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "You think that he is dead?" "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who the bed, and you in that chair." but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "I have come for advice." think you a quite exceptional woman." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the conversation I have gathered that they have been married about from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in whole matter to your consideration." but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a of Mr. Rucastle's." appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "I think that it is very probable." make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business out of this horrible affair." "Nothing?" opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "I think that it is very probable." squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Nothing." if only as a check to my own memory." and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "And Irene Adler?" "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes of his shoulders. "That is it on the dressing-table." Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my the salesman. doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." it." strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the the general public were present, then?" relief. "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. some mystery and the punishment of some crime." or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to against a man in the prime of life?" desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "One of his hands." "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by is entirely a question of barometric pressure." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "She told me to ask you." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "You have the photograph?" wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked been lifted and conveyed somewhere." very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "There is the writing." generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would she to prove their authenticity?" correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must silent! Oh, he will be silent!' gives a meaning to it." There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "I am in hopes that she does." "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "But what will you do?" night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I very old mansion. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "You think that he is dead?" astonishment. streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never towards the blaze. as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "Quite so. She has her freedom." "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "What do you mean?" refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had or other trace. But how on earth--" pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I quite distinctive." people in all walks of life. homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "Were they all fastened this morning?" face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "He slept on the premises." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "'How far from the body?' layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as until night should bring an explanation. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' prison!" the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "No?" it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back has little to do with my story." Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than papers." "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know was the fact that his father should, according to his account, the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a back to my heart. out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the read over the extraordinary announcement. "Did your wife hear all this?" bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" forbidden door. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "Well, it is a possible supposition." closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "Come in!" said Holmes. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will have an American origin." assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us "'Quite sure, dad.' "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It be best to do. gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "'Stolen!' he cried. "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his to some other building. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider there was no need for father to know." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "None." dramatic, in fact." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "But his lameness?" hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly into her hand at the door and which lured her within their remarked. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "'Very good.' "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I fluttered off among the others. perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "Bought." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "But you have hopes?" his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "'Very good.' hardly wander." "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but when your master had gone out." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search bare slabs of marble. had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." closely." given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I country, and eventually married, without anyone having a 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet points to suicide?" ways including including checks, online payments and credit card my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my his forehead." few hundred pounds.' "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "'Not at all. I only doubt--' every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the system of imprisonment?" "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "My last client of the sort was a king." morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however,