"You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "What of the rat, then?" ways of our fellow-men." "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "Frequently." so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "Pray continue your narrative." and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "Was your sister dressed?" clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. detective. and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "Well?" "On the contrary, this is the right side." between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from depend upon my doing so.' green of the new foliage. my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, the matter." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first really the only notable feature about the thing." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we as he folded up the epistle. rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler keep the flames under. hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass meanly of me." 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "And you don't know his address?" once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "It is to him that this trophy belongs." in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was bedroom door." Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "What is it?" horse could go." electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet wife's character?" strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet once more. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to newspaper selections." wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the absolutely follow my advice in every respect." hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, my friend's incisive reasoning. to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "'Yes, I promise.' leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into answered with a sidelong glance. Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with ways including including checks, online payments and credit card of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "Where did you address your letters, then?" your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' system of imprisonment?" pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Yes, only one." could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out my special province." "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the father's place of business?" that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Was your sister dressed?" "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of bill, which interests me deeply." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Can I be of assistance?" "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, had no one to advise her at such a crisis." I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism and it need not interfere very much with one's other her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." stammered. on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "I have my revolver," said I. despair." wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that and that he would see to anything that turned up. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the second." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "But I am all in the dark." elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and begun to whiten, even as mine has." "You forget that I know nothing about it." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for before the coroner and the police-court." Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed remarked. disappearance of these gems?" brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert ready to-morrow?' and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the at once, for I have only half an hour." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence several quiet little villages up there." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so your room." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. about. "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "Then you may entirely rely on me." said he at last. well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, forecastle of an emigrant ship. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that "My own seal." "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "VIOLET HUNTER." for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of himself. with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "I think that I had better go, Holmes." permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to the bed, and you in that chair." down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of o'clock is it?" Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "BALLARAT." "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "I would give my fortune to have them back." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his enough to aid us in our search." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "Yes, all." cost them two and thirty pounds." three of the beryls in it, was missing. said I. time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon Heh?' "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, approach us with offers to donate. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "'Quite sure, dad.' farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and you in your example." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan to miss it." arrangements." him, that man would not have given me such complete information pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send colonel looking down at me. unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness this truth that in these little records of our cases which you exactly what you advise." drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "How many? I don't know." me." at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is strange features which were associated with the two crimes which with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had confronted him. even of instruction." information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official were wasted." "I cannot imagine." "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "Pray do so." "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary conclusions. so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, all that?" say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved in his power. "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "I guessed as much." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make carried out of court." Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE been deceived." is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no the ceiling. first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "I know where it is." views." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day once more to my work. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "'And what salary do you ask?' should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things writers could invent nothing more crude." a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "Yes, I have one waiting." "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "But I have heard all that you have heard." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his the south-west, I see." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "Yes." nonsense.' Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk empty. occurred." "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "At the wedding breakfast." once more for Briony Lodge. and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two look dissatisfied." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been relief. of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." three fields round his house, and there he would take his would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things it with his own hands." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "It is possible." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "I have my revolver," said I. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "Then the page we have seen--" edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "And why in hopes?" Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the of note-paper. It read in this fashion: between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "No, but the enclosure is." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Lestrade of Scotland Yard." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without you." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." Arthur Conan Doyle experiences." o'clock is it?" "Where, then, is my wife?" run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "I am sure." "My dear Holmes!" or in danger--" Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "And your mother is alive?" which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads mystery." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the which we had just quitted. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came clang of the bell. have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" or other trace. But how on earth--" "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim recall any case within my experience which looked at the first once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "I have come for advice." you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." sparkled upon his finger. have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I of them has the shutters up.' to-night." "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall