your bag." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. kindly on the shoulder. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have over part of the map. "What do you read?" it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this there is a decided draught." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold direction." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the detective. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of been lifted and conveyed somewhere." He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even forebodings. arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes forbidden door. "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "Did you observe the colour?" sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? character. without a word or a look. which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself interest. They are important, you understand, without being fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." shoulder. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "You are hungry," I remarked. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me indeed which he could not unravel. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I His smile broadened. are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to Surrey." any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "What shall I do?" she to prove their authenticity?" frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as with the outside air!" I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very hair?' police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the to his chemical studies. "Never to return." across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "But your client--" you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead tied." fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed "When did she vanish, then?" nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you if I call to-morrow?" eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is the address that was given us in the advertisement. thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide call you and give you the chance." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said village inn over there?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally you in yours." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "Bought." We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, man. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray cigar and let me expound." "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no definite end. "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "Why did you pick him?" broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind exactly what you advise." "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "His face fell immediately. he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a empty. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "Then you may entirely rely on me." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and to arrive at through this?" at my own good fortune. "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend were wasted." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A was the fact that his father should, according to his account, hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "And how?" I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "Pray continue your narrative." red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring bled considerably." latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "Where did he live, then?" them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "This concluded the examination of the witness." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until "Yes, all." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been rat could hardly pass through." "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "It certainly sounds feasible." grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "Yes." father's place of business?" employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "But she will refuse." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "Of what day?" of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And "How did that help you?" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a "I would give my fortune to have them back." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether not come at once?" "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I must be when I saw the door open.' us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are them?" "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in were new raised from a basin. to his chemical studies. evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "No sign of it?" possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Watson," he said cordially. at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of minor matters until to-morrow." Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he green of the new foliage. it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "Perhaps we may make them less so." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "My stepfather's business papers." "I was certainly surprised to find you there." young Openshaw's." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and and the whole place is in a blaze." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the strong reason behind." writer." THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in think, you have already met." unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate lamp. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean attention." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look use an arc-and-compass breastpin." here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all in the dead of the night?' robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "You know me, then?" A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "One of the highest in England." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his already been minutely examined." connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, ways of our fellow-men." "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "When did it break out?" across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "'Very good.' I held the little printed slip to the light. time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the intrusion of other matters." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, "I say that I have solved it." wedding?" Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. http://www.gutenberg.net starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step prove to be little relation between the different incidents of 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call newspaper selections." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, here and I will read it to you: misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Her father is very rich?" "I should like to see him very much." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, little trying to do so much typewriting?" "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the photograph?" remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting silent! Oh, he will be silent!' thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "Where did he live, then?" chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which "Perhaps I have." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "'Yes.' Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the he died? of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" never to learn it at all." were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "That you are never beaten." transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "It is possible." "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." clang of the bell. his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses national property. I was determined that the law should have its showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, the ceiling. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons your troubles." in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "'And the work?' "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Arthur Conan Doyle point our research must commence, and we will begin it by in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "Who was the criminal, then?" square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only approach us with offers to donate. pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "Yes, it was twisted." have had none more fantastic than this." cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers knowledge of the world." "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "It is very kind of you." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the King without delay." to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "It is half-past ten now." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked have been better. It is all right." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "The murder was done with it." pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here a monotonous occupation." there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. him, that man would not have given me such complete information them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I letters?" his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "Nothing." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look in my life." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "'Never.' "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" of this gang." "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and everything which you would wish to know." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly