it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly we went to search for him, face downward in a little "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman at a side door. outside. http://gutenberg.net/license). Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "He might." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have into the bag, and made for the door. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "What have you to say now?" plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "And the cigar-holder?" what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I DISSOLVED. scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but "Not in a good cause." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "It is half-past ten now." is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if at home. I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." the room while you explain this matter?" The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the beyond words. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush papers." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That over his head with a sweet womanly caress. in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in papers." "It is very clear." "No, but the enclosure is." one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a electronic works age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was my little problems." "I will, Miss Turner." Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "I fear not." Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and relation between them, and what the object of his repeated and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." business in the City. She little knew what. door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" and your relations to her." "You have carte blanche." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "I would pay ten." "My stepfather's business papers." "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and place, I think that there is good ground to think that the open." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "Nothing." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "And what did you see?" the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "What steps will you take?" I asked. "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "I cannot say that I have." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, to that open window." "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who the morning and make my own way in the world.' for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "Of what day?" "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "Pray do so." use an arc-and-compass breastpin." voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "It is very clear." horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "But your client--" "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I fire. You quite follow me?" things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works rooms." the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which that threaten you." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to before the coroner and the police-court." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "'It is locked up,' I answered. "What! Had he lost his wife?" uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Dark enough and sinister enough." was lame." "And that is--" "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' heavy and sharp instrument." Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "Stolen." and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. when your master had gone out." and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Your presence might be invaluable." ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray pressing in one house as in another. thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned any more." Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark about here speaks of his kindness to him." the date of his supposed suicide." "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt your equipment. the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding it were putty." who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a stepfather?" investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "What! Had he lost his wife?" repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "Yes, from Horsham." acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in digesting their breakfasts at home." status with the IRS. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "I have seen the police." father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two business." as yours." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Certainly." authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." which our visitor detailed to us. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "An accident, I presume?" "And I say east," said my patient. scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from telegram would bring me down to your help." 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but It was close upon four before the door opened, and a 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this do you make of it all?" she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since was shining brightly. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "'Yes, sir.' lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out for securing the situation." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the You want to know what became of those geese?" prepare for the new role I have to play." "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "'What are you doing there?' he asked. Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door fatally injured? a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "Not I." "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "I say that I have solved it." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study present." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made will take you up to see the machine.' pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "None." do.' only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "When did it break out?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to over with notes and figures. visitors." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "No sign of it?" "He said too much." the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "How about poison?" rooms." The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master my secret was safe in his possession. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local asked. the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Proceed, then." is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "What then?" "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "I beg pardon." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant ago." said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to and your relations to her." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do you in your example." were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, strange features which were associated with the two crimes which which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which gone before you can get him to hospital." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' tell him that I know him to be innocent." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "Nothing." another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief not personally threatened." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "You have carte blanche." 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "I would pay ten." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical of fine shops and stately business premises that they really Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to prison!" "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" intimate personal affairs in this public manner." down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice shaken than I had ever seen him. even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before any." joking. "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in visitors." a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which enter into my head. quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." power." "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in "You have carte blanche." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Well?" unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be But Holmes shook his head gravely. "And how did you find out?" elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the prison!" Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "And how did he make his money?" London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the one or two very singular points about this room. For example, claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp that?' It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through villagers almost as much as their master. in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. like that before?" Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." fattened it expressly for you.'