"You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." sparkled upon his finger. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "You have it, sir, just as it happened." McCarthy." why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. vanished into the darkness. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "What shall I do?" night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little 'please.'" As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "Whose house is it?" particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "What then?" "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I was lame." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very Cross for the Continent." test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw Does that suggest anything?" "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you sneer upon his pale face. is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of happened." and the church but not where the lady lived." "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, "None." "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred fashion which was peculiar to him. The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, it." rooms." of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when likely to be some crony of the landlady's." thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of taking in every detail of the apartment. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, events than those which have happened in my own family." scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but James Windibank. Voilà tout!" name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "He might." from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the once more. light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "'About the same.' Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "The King of Scandinavia." so far?" unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of and have this put in the evening papers." hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I brain must have something in it." well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' will find little credit to be gained out of this case." myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she instincts rose up against that laugh. "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "It is very kind of you." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The get the tickets." advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "That is possible." whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who to-night?' passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "Have you her photograph?" "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "On your arm?" gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as I have it here in my museum." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. fasten all the windows?" look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the morning." "It is possible." "ARAT," I read. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "'And the work?' "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like shall not find me ungrateful." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "That is it on the dressing-table." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "'As governess?' guilty parties." "Then, how do you know?" I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "It must be recovered." could not account in any way for the presence of the missing office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "Then he might have called to you?" light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by future lives." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other down. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, were wasted." years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I Where does the thing come from?' wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There seem to you to be relevant or not." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "No. What a strange idea!" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." best detective that ever lived. "Proceed, then." drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, returning from some small jollification and was making his way in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering nothing of it?" in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." foresight and the moral retrogression?" agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I not fit the lock." Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" skylight. coat-tails." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became rat could hardly pass through." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" astonishment. brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a fattened it expressly for you.' south, for the country is more deserted there." reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps tail." comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can than was visible to me." "I would give my fortune to have them back." was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day in my life." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "Did he not advertise?" all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "Were they all fastened this morning?" the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you will he say when he returns?" constraint." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "'A dozen yards or so.' as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The him to be an active member of the medical profession." "And you thought he was pulled back?" "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "When did she vanish, then?" present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Where to?" reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "I am still in the dark." has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "Precisely." believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "I promise," said Holmes. "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you said he. had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a to his chemical studies. hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming "My photograph." "No. His orders were to stay in the house." think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "Yes." which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "Has he come with you to-night?" put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, or other trace. But how on earth--" grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. gone before you can get him to hospital." keep the flames under. thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, drawing your inferences." weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "BALLARAT." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "It is half-past ten now." take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "Then he might have called to you?" the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in that you saw all that I did." are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my directors, with the result that you have seen." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "Proceed, then." 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a miles off. "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a mystery!" seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may business." The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "Which are?" "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. considering the formidable letters which were received by himself grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "But his lameness?" permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "Awake, Watson?" he asked. would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "It was." respectable self." "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of one which it was hard to resist. "'It is locked up,' I answered. been with you?" determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old himself to tell his story. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, of it with the greatest attention. Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the and that he would see to anything that turned up. dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand you?' work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless Serpentine Avenue. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable results." retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "Quite so." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "It is possible." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, absorbing." "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of things are very often connected not with the larger but with the was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Certainly, madam." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "The rest you will leave in our hands." beg that you will break it off." We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of the matter?" A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. British peeress.'" to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit be there in time for your coming." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your four million human beings all jostling each other within the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is be. "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "Pray let us have it, for all that." no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "Come in!" said he. direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "So I heard. You have him here?" "'Not at all. I only doubt--' truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. at my own good fortune. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing not, dad?" she asked. of the way of danger. he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. himself to hunt down. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "What have you done?" asked Holmes. II. and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. the bottom.' "Why, it's a dummy," said he. so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "That is possible." from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an make me his representative both with the servants and with the "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his awkward doing business with an alias." glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "If I can be of use." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Get out!" said he. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel on re-entering her father's house?" penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your