"I cannot think." he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a know what is wrong with it.' midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" away to you." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, forehead. "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of there were one or two details which were new to me. But the I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. awaited us upon the table. matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "Was your sister dressed?" heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the it were putty." late." scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "Two days later this same performance was gone through under residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it you." "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "But your client--" distance from the station, and there we found the young lady to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "And who is her maid?" accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Pray do so." in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want light and attacked it." Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "But your client--" But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Then how many are there?" "Where is it, then?" "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "Then I shall certainly come." your equipment. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still that you can jump it.' "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy chemical work which was so dear to him. your co-operation." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, a suggestive one." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I into her hand at the door and which lured her within their observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over observed. man. creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable of receipt of the work. considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Certainly." the inquest, and which are worth considering." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He criminal. We have already had experience of such." "Deserted you?" understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all there." "ARAT," I read. with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife sake, don't!" "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "Where, indeed?" sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "'Certainly not.' got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through which should have the effect of calling the attention of the leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "Nothing?" "So I have heard." surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such passage and a tap at the door. years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is of this gang." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "What can you not understand?" country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "We were both in the photograph." "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" man. as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in where we are going." of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing been deceived." but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "9th. McCauley cleared. constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "Not him." story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "And you thought he was pulled back?" the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, to take care of herself." "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "Thank you. And your address?" But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in to affect your life." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "And who is her maid?" cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" "It was a confession," I ejaculated. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the carpenter." than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the again before evening." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out him and tried to hold him back. is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet clang of the bell. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you society." lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "Ample." "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the me what he had done with the three missing stones. something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly fluttered off among the others. small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for do.' well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's his cane at the bell-pull. "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go believe that I should never have any practice at all. upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in drove away. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "'Oh, no.' knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive said Mr. Holder. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater opened a pocket-book and took out a note. explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that do." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland do you make of it all?" near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. Pool. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, "Yes, certainly." the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has one which it was hard to resist. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Yes." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The out." "'Yes, sir.' forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day the Friday. Was it to be in church?" was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six burst out into a roar of laughter. gone before you can get him to hospital." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "I think that it is very probable." of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Upon what point?" "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling meanly of me." travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do tail." could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, my room." bled considerably." "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what think that any burglar could have done. "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between the roots. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a garden below. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." becomes even more simple." "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, you." "Not I." "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "How can you tell that?" perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its DISSOLVED. however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key think you a quite exceptional woman." "Yes, the wine-cellar." fled together." up this clue while it is still hot." "'Stolen!' he cried. better grown goose." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any "He disappeared so suddenly." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms ago." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of over here." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. a little more before I quite committed myself. "I would give my fortune to have them back." sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands straightened it out again. weighed down with some great anxiety. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "Married! When?" one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "'What, the red-headed man?' this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." was shining brightly. both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what His name is Francis Prosper." "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can bed dies. Does not that strike you?" room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "Oh, yes, easily." stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from vault. some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to that I can to serve you." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a system of imprisonment?" vault. younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a highroad, where all traces were lost. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we into the bag, and made for the door. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "And sit in the dark?" way in." which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could stood on the top of it. hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is pierced for earrings?" Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary gone. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's seem to you to be relevant or not." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This and the church but not where the lady lived." Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Have you her photograph?" before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "Deserted you?" passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with hair?' the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "Precisely so. But how--" body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "The gentleman I describe." change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the I approached. typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the note?" present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." telegram would bring me down to your help." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in money should be paid at once.' up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "You think so, too?" and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "So I heard. You have him here?" silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the the Red-headed League." weapon." five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not our word." "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you becomes even more simple." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, the one as in the other." the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "We must sit without light. He would see it through the Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of his cane at the bell-pull. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair front of the hall door has given its name to the place. fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "Yes." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master bonnet, and went out." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. sooner or later she must fall a victim. there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady more terrible than the truth. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who not come at once?" battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "No." both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and