previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of here and I will read it to you: "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." made his money." to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about him!" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "You did not overhear what they said?" call it cruel." spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "But you would not advise me to refuse?" went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. to-morrow." "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "So I have heard." in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about might help us?" "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "And you thought he was pulled back?" case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and unprecedented a position." She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate business." least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all served to weaken the effect. shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself http://www.gutenberg.net will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I "Will you bet, then?" this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "Well?" admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., perplexity from it to my illustrious client. corner of the building. even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was events than those which have happened in my own family." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible matter." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards that you saw all that I did." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "'Is purely nominal.' and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the jewels which you have stolen?' "My own seal." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him my room." carriage. It was a chestnut." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "I cannot imagine." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 himself. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been matter." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "In the cells." in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "Nothing?" There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his is now desirous of getting those letters back." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into said he. few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "And is that all?" suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided whatever might befall. peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was My friend smiled. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "On your arm?" saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There morning." probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his read it out to me." here and I will read it to you: the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could "Yes." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a weigh very heavily upon my conscience." and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "You forget that I know nothing about it." wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself to have been novel and of interest." were wasted." twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see Street. utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "You did not overhear what they said?" admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. the inner apartment." "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a shall use the carriage to-night." "10th. John Swain cleared. headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': which are rolled in Rotterdam." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, shag which I had seen upon the previous night. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." weighed down with some great anxiety. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he voice. purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "None." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without footfalls from the street. scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" remarked. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Yes, they were peculiar boots." there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with Countess of Morcar's?" you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' could not have written that. It is the German who is so most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "Yes." yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "And what then?" "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I suddenly upon us." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, particular state visit http://pglaf.org detained." trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Yes, at the mines." it." "It is possible." developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an furiously. following enigmatical notices: prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own prove to be little relation between the different incidents of likely to be some crony of the landlady's." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "And now?" He raised his hand. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. strength." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office know that the truth is known." bears upon the case?" "So I am. Very much so." "Only as much as we can deduce." first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which careless servant girl?" taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of is four-and-twenty." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the closing the door. its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "But you were on a friendly footing?" who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of window when the police appeared." "Of Friday, June 19th." seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, noble correspondent could be. "What, then?" and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice really the only notable feature about the thing." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I sooner or later she must fall a victim. has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able easy-going way." being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your province." seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was humiliation." long narrative. Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which careless servant girl?" investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most his wife has ceased to love him." "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to himself in a perplexing position. Surrey." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he father's young wife. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "And what did you learn from him?" had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is "Not in a good cause." crime. "An accident, I presume?" matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" unkempt, staring out at me. heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand call for it in person on Monday morning.' something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room miles off. responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated works. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "No?" "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. her also." staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "No." America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both it were putty." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two whether it answered to the description of any of their him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is time." he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke his huge brown hands. "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a with the outside air!" of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. soul! here is her carriage at the door." furiously. and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, house for five minutes.' "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, the one as in the other." "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, leave you to your papers for a little." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her approach us with offers to donate. by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being for securing the situation." out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of presented which may be striking and bizarre without being I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "That was it, sir." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think again." up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that to his chemical studies. Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast me have 200 pounds?' foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did newspaper selections." "Then the page we have seen--" Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had