extraordinary contortions. certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is handed it to him. acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since entirely lost his self-respect." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' His smile broadened. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "No bad?" Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and you?' the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "I came to find a friend." mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended rose-bushes. "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did entirely devoid of interest." from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so dead, shall be safe with us." comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and Street. of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "And your father? Did you tell him?" and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the your only hope of safety." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "One of his hands." "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest my special province." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to were wasted." wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of chamber." "I see many objections to any such theory." a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Then what has happened to him?" should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "Then you may be so with me." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, about. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "Certainly." inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "'Stolen!' he cried. from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case distance from the station, and there we found the young lady with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, now. It seems that there had been some informality about their the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor prison!" look dissatisfied." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William brain must have something in it." I nodded again. us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He that the gas is not laid on in his house?" in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "That also I could fathom." branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "What office?" Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "Only as much as we can deduce." LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from From what you have told me I think that it is possible that Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I people in all walks of life. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are success. done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the clang of the bell. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Thank you. And your address?" four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" his face. but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a most important business. It is probable that he will be away all and have this put in the evening papers." your Highness to the police-station?" "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several the coronet at all injured?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out "Then I can wait in the next room." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a "A confidential servant?" his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "You'll never persuade me to believe that." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his already been minutely examined." Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "Where did you address your letters, then?" the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had depend upon my doing so.' Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done relation between them, and what the object of his repeated open." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or sooner or later she must fall a victim. conversation I have gathered that they have been married about saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too 'I should be able to look after that for you.' key turn in the lock." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if kindly on the shoulder. upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. with you?" with you?" without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the that you can jump it.' for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "The gentleman I describe." "I cannot think." against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come name is different." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or the coroner come to?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with woven round him. said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still most interesting one." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "By no means." "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' to-night?" I asked. matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his better grown goose." know all about it," he snarled. "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from views." It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "My dear Holmes!" however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with bare slabs of marble. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I his cane at the bell-pull. right! Sit down and let us talk it over." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that off." which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the the one as in the other." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship remarked. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would Holmes' room. "But you would not advise me to refuse?" foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "'And what salary do you ask?' learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, weary and pale-looking. of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "Yes, it would be as well." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you which it had come upon my father." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his you?' some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his dear old homesteads?" "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary this man was intellectual?" "Tired-looking or fresh?" "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "That was it, sir." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal awkward doing business with an alias." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a derbies." The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "Proceed, then." taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with hour?' thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on interested in these little problems, and since you are good "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my way: constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "And you can do nothing until then?" performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the enter into my head. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." one which it was hard to resist. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions salesman. money should be paid at once.' "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near Arthur Conan Doyle however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, had a long day." you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, arrested. You then--" are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "Then, how do you know?" collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the have established a very serious case against the son of the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over there!' "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "The knees of his trousers." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the IS handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" Lee, in the county of Kent." him." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the started for the Temple to see my husband. "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight to that open window." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "What have you to say now?" than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "In which, sir?" jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged and a shock of very red hair. that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was whole matter to your consideration." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." one of the states of the Union." permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his silent! Oh, he will be silent!' into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, hair?' would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start views." suspect him." crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "My photograph." Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "Absolutely none." How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a "A confidential servant?" may have an influence upon European history." "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." lost his Christmas dinner." on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive me what he had done with the three missing stones. unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "But not more so than I to find you." difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "Not social, then?" photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Pray do so." are, I think, all that we need." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open he bowed and left the room without another word. "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." Young McCarthy must be got off, however." It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" I leave." unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have questionable one." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing narrative." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a that threaten you." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle delighted to hear it," he said. chambers. side. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, points to suicide?" get her out of the way." crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is keep the flames under. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the such attractions and accomplishments?' "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the less than 26s. 4d. fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat,