"I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote breakfast and whispered something to her husband. error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram again, where I was soon asleep. of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "I was sure that I might rely on you." is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a families. Now for the facts. "I should wish to." "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "How often?" "Certainly." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." sofa. This way, please!" showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of interest. They are important, you understand, without being call for protection in the marriage market, for the present practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "That is possible." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my with some details as to your case." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "On Monday." have got?" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey more solid." can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled depend upon my doing so.' from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "Yes." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the seem to you to be relevant or not." man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, conduct the inquiry." "Entirely." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, it." "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. better grown goose." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in shall use the carriage to-night." Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have spark where all is dark to me." time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an of them has the shutters up.' of note-paper. It read in this fashion: chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his question. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "No sign of it?" him to go away.' "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in country, and eventually married, without anyone having a surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing he bowed and left the room without another word. soul! here is her carriage at the door." "She showed me, as I told you she would." without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. there were one or two details which were new to me. But the any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. less than 26s. 4d. anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire Holmes' face clouded over. gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Where did he live, then?" "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let "What is it, then--a fire?" married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the tear off another piece?' for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a leaning back in his chair. "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The hour?' "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair "In which, sir?" there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." himself. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an all?" weapon." Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I the child." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. she to prove their authenticity?" "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Two days later this same performance was gone through under wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man tension within him. observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong a good hundred miles off by now." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "Very. But will he see it?" "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "Ten will be early enough." "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "It looks newer than the other things?" Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "That is unusual in a young girl." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may question," said Holmes, smiling. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had I. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself compunction about shooting them down." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' quickly through a disagreeable task. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "No." his face. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, annoyance, but no jest. of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's must compliment you." "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your felt?" upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day memory. thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy point in the dark hollow of his hand. can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Precisely." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers as he remarks, very much against the son." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "Very murderous indeed." registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your acquaintance?" foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "'Yes, it was gone.' Does that suggest anything?" door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly the ceiling. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." used to be." is worth.' "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "It is his hat." the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. handed it to him. the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate one of them." the iron safe, which he closed upon it. country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." purpose equally well?" and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers a few minutes he said that it would be all right. reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become most important business. It is probable that he will be away all with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works way in everything. "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "It is very kind of you." and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "Yes, they were peculiar boots." down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a "But we can't all be." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography papers diligently of late, have you not?" morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, standing smiling on the door-step. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent four million human beings all jostling each other within the bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. observed. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from From what you have told me I think that it is possible that far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked the Assizes." heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "'And the work?' "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "How do you know, then?" that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at this unhappy family?" being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am wall." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy friend's singular character. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "To the police?" few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds Heh?' fluttered off among the others. was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "The knees of his trousers." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not Dr. Gregory B. Newby thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "That is unusual in a young girl." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She orange pips. These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other your room." how narrow had been my escape. His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised his wife has ceased to love him." remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it cost them two and thirty pounds." wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." "I will try. What is it?" "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, behind me. 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a strength." study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much rat could hardly pass through." nothing of it?" remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to case before our client came into the room." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had and glanced through. cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "You will not go there first?" "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "Ten will be early enough." ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "'What do you call purely nominal?' "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the child." have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true the Red-headed League." has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The better in every way that they should make their position a little "And I to find an enemy." been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and prepare for the new role I have to play." closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few paper in the air. confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you during which he might have communicated with his friend the "And Miss Sutherland?" standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "Did you observe the colour?" presume?" hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming interested in these little problems, and since you are good "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible made his money." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "What office?" "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "But your client--" will find little credit to be gained out of this case." I approached. case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "You'll never persuade me to believe that." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of the so-precious time, but come!' away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, of Mr. Rucastle's." were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; there in twenty minutes." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being entirely lost his self-respect." from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third there when the Rucastles went away." greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which John Swain, of St. Augustine. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. annoyance, but no jest. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "It is half-past ten now." "But it has twice been burgled." the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "'Yes.' walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I conceal it?" year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." since then to throw any light upon what became of him."