reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "'Where could I find him?' "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, me upon any point which I do not make clear." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with DISSOLVED. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? weapon." part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "You have carte blanche." "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the character. both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent second." doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To your troubles." light and attacked it." "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and you." should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps and files of the old papers, following the future career of every was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was cheerful." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all window when the police appeared." disturbance in my wife." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a Eyford." possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a woman who has had her own way to make in the world. course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a visitors." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into if I call to-morrow?" panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. you in yours." "On the contrary, this is the right side." "And how did you verify them?" John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the "Where, then?" exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "An enemy?" business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "He slept on the premises." of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "Where did you address your letters, then?" that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his stepfather?" centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you "And what then?" when you have done it." Serpentine Avenue. demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who nothing of it?" could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should lamp in his hand. during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at wife's character?" savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while been deceived." his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Stoke Moran?" said he. him!" "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "Because he was handy and would come cheap." slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "Come in!" said Holmes. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old have got?" "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per that you wished to speak to me?' has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance cause to be." me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "'I am sure if I had known--' "Holmes, the busybody!" leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given "How are you getting on?" How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began and the church but not where the lady lived." http://gutenberg.net/license). were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "His face fell immediately. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "And Irene Adler?" "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "But what will you do?" son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the closely." to a more successful conclusion." ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the I. to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it legal crime." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Oh, fresh and glossy." "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, page at http://pglaf.org absorbing." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed problems help me to do so." "'Stolen!' he cried. floor. to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon late!' strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs detective. papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, way in everything. thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure depend upon your compliance." of your young ladies.' think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "You were travelling in the States?" see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "This concluded the examination of the witness." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be You want to know what became of those geese?" that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; His name is Francis Prosper." back alive. as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive been deceived." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That father's young wife. "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes there were so many in the whole country as were brought together "Bought." of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I redistribution. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. returned to France?" the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "What steps will you take?" I asked. a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when see a sister of mine apply for." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "And the murderer?" man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, asked with his eyes open. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "It is solved." observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great house for five minutes.' the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "Did he not advertise?" hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number gone. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "Yes." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "'I shall certainly be there.' "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." arrangements." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, him to go away.' "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "Never to return." all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "'What would be the hours?' I asked. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they more solid." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered are windows in it, of course?" have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "And Irene Adler?" 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them in his power. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst tell them apart.' his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that works. "It looks newer than the other things?" firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "Stoke Moran?" said he. "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. conduct the inquiry." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner just ask you whether you had heard it.' thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" prison!" crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "And why?" coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "But to whom?" but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had London for the present?" time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by into the bag, and made for the door. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens things are very often connected not with the larger but with the License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "I cannot as yet see any connection." terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court you came in." one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "What! You do not mean bodies?" safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "'Not at all. I only doubt--' now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your had picked up in the wood. "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "It must be recovered." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, Lestrade of Scotland Yard." half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "A greater distance to travel." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "Oh, fresh and glossy." always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper villagers almost as much as their master. official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family there is a decided draught." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us you want, then?' During two years I have had three consultations and one small "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee Holmes' room. look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "Upon what point?" newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "The landlord of the Alpha." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all hardly wander." to that open window." "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by a little more before I quite committed myself. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by "Then, as to money?" figure." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us cigar and let me expound." there." became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the rose-bushes. occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." you." ready to-morrow?' that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "No, but the enclosure is." surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and,