was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "You think so, too?" "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading DISSOLVED. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "Then he might have called to you?" heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her answered with a sidelong glance. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity observed. our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the returning from some small jollification and was making his way accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "I never have." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing Pool. received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "I came to find a friend." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. subject to the trademark license, especially commercial confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout populous neighbourhood." "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "Do you go out much in society?" bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon o'clock is it?" with her." "How often?" covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with fluttered off among the others. heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "That sounds a little paradoxical." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of placed his cuttings. practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. Does that suggest anything?" short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever from you?" pressing in one house as in another. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon telegram would bring me down to your help." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, where Mr. Fordham shows you.' he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the noting anything else of interest. stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "Seven!" I answered. 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a Holmes. respectable self." it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." learned something! Where are the gems?" to-morrow." "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by village inn over there?" "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch miles off. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass retorted upon me, and I on you." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "'And what are they worth?' I asked. distinguish the words: "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small four million human beings all jostling each other within the Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well During two years I have had three consultations and one small heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a humiliation." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads as he folded up the epistle. thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "And now?" I asked. man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, wedding?" the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "'No, I know no one in these parts.' that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. that he will be back before evening." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of for its centre. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" manager. routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the written. "It looks newer than the other things?" At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his to tell." writer." "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already prepare for the new role I have to play." which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He "'Yes, I promise.' bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a over with notes and figures. sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that more solid." your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize strong reason behind." such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the envelope. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "This photograph!" "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My charge against him will break down." my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." the King without delay." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His "Here?" result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I murdered man." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took bonnet, and went out." it means?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Nothing." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the confronted him. License. You must require such a user to return or money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet that, and I came down." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from little adventures." trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to mysterious end." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the presume?" crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, to-night's adventure." arms and began to sob in a high treble key. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "No, I think that I'll take it." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "No legal papers or certificates?" considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "Perfectly so." news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall your own bird, so if you wish--" James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "Breckinridge is his name." Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was yourselves in at night?" "Stolen, then." to his chemical studies. heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are you give your casting vote to?" Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think a room. seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very people don't know." followed. on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as figure." "I shall most certainly do so." while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend cigars in the box." and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly good for you to do.' chamber." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at photograph?" abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "One of his hands." protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so Heh?' "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "And from a noble client?" "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" himself to tell his story. "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows Holmes' thin, eager face. considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "Witness: I must still refuse. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you and have this put in the evening papers." my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to eat it." into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "Witness: Nothing definite. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her distinguish the words: forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Not in a good cause." deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "It is to him that this trophy belongs." yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter name is different." sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "'And what salary do you ask?' house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "You have carte blanche." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "I cannot tell." in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last waste of energy." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "And how have you succeeded?" there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in nonsense.' bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "It is solved." "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about have an American origin." "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "Well, some hundreds of times." rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed business at Coburg Square is serious." gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "One?" us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after villagers almost as much as their master. window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. for the market.' "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "Very. But will he see it?" as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, are windows in it, of course?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "Thank you. Pray proceed." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman Mary, has deserted me." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" look upon these things in a different way." first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "And you thought he was pulled back?" "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This see a sister of mine apply for." particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all "In heaven's name, what for?" brought there to personate someone, and the real person is Surrey." his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them said he at last. soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. Serpentine Avenue. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire ashen face. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "You did not overhear what they said?" the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given individual and becomes the badge of a society." with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it and inquire as to the address." springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who his wife has ceased to love him." cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" other lovers by making love himself." excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired she used." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings.