endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to his wife has ceased to love him." "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither this truth that in these little records of our cases which you McCarthy's innocence. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret visitors." once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "No?" about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight his knees, staring into the fire. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "Ten will be early enough." points in connection with it which never have been, and probably borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his in one or two places in England?' "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and sufficient punishment." but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another because she had spent so short a time in this country that she her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had both be extremely obliged.' if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, instituted." "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." not fit the lock." has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we out." Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and companion quietly. nothing of it?" assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, rat could hardly pass through." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "'Why that?' I asks. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "Your sister is dead, then?" several quiet little villages up there." fattened it expressly for you.' another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not I have it here in my museum." common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to look dissatisfied." pity, because in other respects you would really have done very belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked behind me. permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "You have carte blanche." and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." test if we have an answer to our advertisement." question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "'Certainly not. But why?' the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was round and wave him away like that.' "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found ill-usage at the hands of fortune. out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" during which he might have communicated with his friend the his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" good-night and bustled off upon her way. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea have accepted such a situation. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he "'I have heard so.' so far?" leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless Sholtos." inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he married her." "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. throat." "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil http://gutenberg.net/license). The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "You did not overhear what they said?" zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. along the entire front of the house, with three long windows little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading more terrible than the truth. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, II. dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for "'Why that?' I asks. "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "10th. John Swain cleared. "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend key turn in the lock." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly future lives." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what enough to aid us in our search." "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "My dear Holmes!" estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." strength in the others." air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same room?" however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "I have hopes." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Holmes. this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "Certainly." until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of written. call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six do.' "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the page at http://pglaf.org understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who see me here to avoid scandal." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "'What would be the hours?' I asked. He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands newspaper selections." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I train.' paper in the air. "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Dr. Becher's." interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "I assure you that I am in your hands." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my http://gutenberg.net/license). "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "He slept on the premises." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with morning." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I there in twenty minutes." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one believe that I should never have any practice at all. "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Why, it's a dummy," said he. as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you up this clue while it is still hot." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and delirious. had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "My photograph." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. one else, I think." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' details should find their way into the papers. Inspector flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon light and attacked it." and laid it on the table. extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his advice." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is three fields round his house, and there he would take his "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst laugh and put his lips to my ear. sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds me. You must get home instantly and act." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. south, for the country is more deserted there." To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to what do you think they found in the pockets?" road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where have had none more fantastic than this." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over at my remark. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his sound at heart." "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "Pray tell us what has happened to you." ways of our fellow-men." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office to arrive at through this?" my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found redistribution. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "Dark enough and sinister enough." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the triumphant cloud from his cigarette. prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the quick march!" inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, hurried by. "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Who by?" Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a that he has suffered." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was shaken than I had ever seen him. train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." that you saw all that I did." voice, changing her seat as requested. from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be Eyford at 11:15.' I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no John Swain, of St. Augustine. "I shall most certainly do so." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" opened the door, and slipped through. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." so far?" the south-west, I see." "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most laugh and put his lips to my ear. a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" suspect him." to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you to have that photograph." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong James Windibank. Voilà tout!" were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." look upon these things in a different way." least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's presume?" Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "Upon what point?" from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "You know me, then?" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press touch that coronet?' thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us strode off upon his way. usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No and that he would see to anything that turned up. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since place, I think that there is good ground to think that the position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "'In my own bureau.' the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. "Now, then, what's the last entry?" believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from the bed, and you in that chair." "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "I am about to be married." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter questioning and rather startled gaze. "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Where to?" Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Pray continue your narrative." A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, bell. Holmes whistled. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and directly by questioning you." "'I am sure if I had known--' "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there.