"He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love from you?" "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence than was visible to me." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to there when the Rucastles went away." "At the wedding breakfast." upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the future lives." less than 26s. 4d. whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the open." "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly tell me that you intended to go into harness." the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. advice." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "How can you tell that?" doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he has little to do with my story." "I assure you that I am in your hands." moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the writer." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "I do." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house the bottom.' "Nothing?" her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an me upon any point which I do not make clear." can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not I nodded again. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "None." presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "In answer to an advertisement." conclusions. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "There is the writing." once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Precisely." of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must to his chemical studies. events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "Just look it up, then." "You were travelling in the States?" "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her 'I should be able to look after that for you.' master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "How about poison?" your room." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the Where does the thing come from?' frequently gained my first real insight into the character of kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You place, I think that there is good ground to think that the day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by it means?" "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about touch that coronet?' "Here?" since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "Will you go?" "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. all?" Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "But you can know nothing of this?" social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the depend upon your compliance." too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were helping a boy to put up the shutters. few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the of the vacancies.' "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "Which surely he restored to their owner?" absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "My photograph." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as were unconscious?" "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "She showed me, as I told you she would." he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "I see no marks." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the writer." the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "Ample." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my tension within him. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Very truly yours, are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "Then I shall certainly come." with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, your only hope of safety." "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "I was certainly surprised to find you there." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at works. See paragraph 1.E below. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon were unconscious?" you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "You'll never persuade me to believe that." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' Holmes' thin, eager face. "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had bill, which interests me deeply." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps official police." "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "We have tried and failed." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "I would pay ten." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons voice, changing her seat as requested. There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year invisible to me," I remarked. "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "I am armed." during the last few years, and there are many noble families to Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed desk. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "The murder was done with it." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Sutherland. prison!" so far?" to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "But the mystery?" him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face colonel looking down at me. also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with straighten it?" retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a intimate personal affairs in this public manner." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have particular state visit http://pglaf.org best detective that ever lived. The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant along the entire front of the house, with three long windows redistribution. signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we experiences." the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide II. present." attention." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to paper in the air. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "That was it, sir." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and upon the shelf for the interim." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. green of the new foliage. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and a very grave face. beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five you understand?" here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from figure." hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson never came back." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you prisoner's face. "And I say east," said my patient. want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment coat-tails." the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for least a most suspicious remark." "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said ways of our fellow-men." considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Not yet." foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' felt?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Holmes, the busybody!" this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us here and I will read it to you: nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my your Highness to the police-station?" his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "Then he might have called to you?" came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "'Certainly not. But why?' public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of upon an income of about 60 pounds." key turn in the lock." that he will be back before evening." Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you chemical work which was so dear to him. "It is true that I have been generally successful." he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "The gentleman I describe." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "But not more so than I to find you." "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed to me. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must returned to France?" remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but gbnewby@pglaf.org silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the leave you to your papers for a little." the child." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the may never be exposed to such a temptation." hurried by. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little bird I ate is country bred." bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, mystery!" "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. "Then you may be so with me." see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have said he. it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "You have but to name it." member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming noting anything else of interest. had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. forebodings. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "You'll never persuade me to believe that." I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "Indeed! Whose, then?" is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I views." have I gained?" me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me these bleak autumnal evenings." and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the she to prove their authenticity?" "Then he might have called to you?" direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "I never have." This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. the warnings." little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out is so. I know all about McCarthy." "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it yet." the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest."