the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking him!" an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. certainly not very gracious." or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "Get out!" said he. not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came been with you?" was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to plantation.' the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a returned to France?" noting anything else of interest. "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge once more for Briony Lodge. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "Game for a morning drive?" both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting outsides of the windows. "But I have heard all that you have heard." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but their singular warning or token before them when starting upon pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your bonnet, and went out." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." father's place of business?" *** START: FULL LICENSE *** long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of without a word or a look. and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "No. What a strange idea!" red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's stood on the top of it. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or begin with, and I had not got mine yet." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite The telegram which we eventually received came late one night equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or a suggestive one." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "How did he come?" his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy tightly behind him. comes from the middle window." "No, I am descending." "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. it means?" send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. present." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." carriage. It was a chestnut." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think the window, rose as we entered. isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "Pray be precise as to details," said he. terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort enter into my head. said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "My stepfather's business papers." envelope. "I will, Miss Turner." "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of next day. fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which note?" case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone vague figure huddled up in the darkness. parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the nonsense.' brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain that I may have something better before very many minutes are views." from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the carpenter." "I was sure that I might rely on you." of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their constraint." companion imperturbably. "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly sparkled upon his finger. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "Yes." hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business drove away. been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. only touch the interest." and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until success. frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips standing smiling on the door-step. swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "'Oh, no.' should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "'I have heard so.' said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of recover the gem." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "'Certainly,' I answered. "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how "Not in a good cause." "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the in this note: sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. this as likely?" employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "Not him." occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "But she will refuse." One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "How did he come?" attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: to tell." nice household for a young lady." "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" how narrow had been my escape. "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out locked. said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which to his chemical studies. hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "Which surely he restored to their owner?" course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "That is it on the dressing-table." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive nice household for a young lady." her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could paper in the air. at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the so far?" For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door business." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "Dark enough and sinister enough." to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "Well, but China?" at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder felt?" key of the affair now." national property. I was determined that the law should have its you do it in twenty minutes!' more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the this man was intellectual?" disappearance of the bride.'" the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no be sorry for having acted so harshly." client, rising. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or coat-tails." "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of acted in my house last night?" permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." very old mansion. constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." morning." "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now been lifted and conveyed somewhere." all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the directors, with the result that you have seen." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable could gather together that I was able to avert another public that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "It is half-past ten now." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "It is half-past ten now." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "Your sister is dead, then?" a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple guilty parties." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I once more for Briony Lodge. after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." with you alone." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which cup of tea. heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "That is also quite modern," said the lady. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The away to you." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy weary and pale-looking. fait accompli?" It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "Where did he live, then?" neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, will take you up to see the machine.' which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Ample." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "It is very kind of you." again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner companion. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. do.' allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "Witness: It was. "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with McCarthy's innocence. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too might help us?" in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "Then what has happened to him?" assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much Edgeware Road. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. companion. and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an tassel actually lying upon the pillow. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "It may not come to that," said Holmes. shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should she might be summoned. makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on along the entire front of the house, with three long windows with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "None." myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of directly by questioning you." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "And how?" "At what time?" knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "Come in!" said Holmes. which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the man. "Yes, but only for you and me." web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "Yes." got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. present." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "He might." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just fluttered off among the others. outsides of the windows. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these daring than any effort of the imagination." Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "A greater distance to travel." "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast Farm upon the left." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." pity, because in other respects you would really have done very and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring some city in a dream. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "Nothing." "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets