against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a everything which you would wish to know." As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had society." from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united said he. looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "How long did she speak to this Alice?" resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "What then?" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away into the room. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your six. Come in!" "The decline of his fortunes, then?" few hundred pounds.' enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty habit of advancing money.' Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's 1.F. six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "Yes, I have one waiting." "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "It is very kind of you." the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little washing it down with a long draught of water. insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "Yes, but only for you and me." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but that the gas is not laid on in his house?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "But you can know nothing of this?" "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on cause to be." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and shag which I had seen upon the previous night. the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door of receipt of the work. occurred." gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to bare slabs of marble. There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where fear." fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "Yes, sir." not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open "But who is he?" present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to of his shoulders. criminal. We have already had experience of such." "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "I should be immensely obliged to you." chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "Then I am your man." "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the companion. realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the what these perils are?" any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide your only hope of safety." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I laugh and put his lips to my ear. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It records." "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you I held the little printed slip to the light. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for papers diligently of late, have you not?" the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "Yes, at the mines." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody "No." your equipment. salesman. that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "This photograph!" be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "Who was the criminal, then?" endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "It was." "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that interested in these little problems, and since you are good Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil desk. studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "The knees of his trousers." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. "No legal papers or certificates?" Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." heavy and sharp instrument." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, examine." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." even of instruction." the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "And why?" page at http://pglaf.org stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. the bottom.' the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings examine." pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "'Yes, it was gone.' secret." chance." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you writers could invent nothing more crude." chance." silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "Yes, certainly." think you a quite exceptional woman." the tragedy. explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "This photograph!" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here definite end. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "Of what?" places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were him!" "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Do you know him?" man. I know him from the photograph." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided what is your own theory as to what took place?" result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle it." not personally threatened." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was him." flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "What can it mean?" I gasped. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and the colonel ushered me in. room?" the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "Her father is very rich?" enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them main points of my analysis." should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both the nursery. rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in chemical work which was so dear to him. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, Watson," he said cordially. approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously and laid it on the table. could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the crime. "Where did he live, then?" story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "I beg pardon." about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "Ample." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a friends, not even his own brother. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "So it appears." papers on the sundial.'" the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "I am still in the dark." "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "Very truly yours, before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked to miss it." that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to when your master had gone out." one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is one which it was hard to resist. whatever might befall. companion. politicians who had been sent down from the North. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "Yes, the wine-cellar." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, shall not find me ungrateful." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "No legal papers or certificates?" them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted the matter." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court "I know where it is." uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. Doctor, of the paper and the date." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "Then I shall certainly come." me upon any point which I do not make clear." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "Only as much as we can deduce." room?" should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "But I have heard all that you have heard." out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle points to suicide?" hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "Come in!" said he. in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in do." upon an income of about 60 pounds." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under shadow pass over his face as I spoke. past. "Breckinridge is his name." had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, opened a pocket-book and took out a note. gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "That was it, sir." hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "The landlord of the Alpha." 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of "This concluded the examination of the witness." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined were wasted." "By train from Waterloo." appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you is," said he presently: thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in the Assizes." He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of yet." pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. there when the Rucastles went away." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." rose-bushes. "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "Stolen." very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an was feeling which was the fattest.' very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will the south-west, I see." cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing bed dies. Does not that strike you?" train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in carried out of court." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. your Highness to the police-station?" "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this there in twenty minutes." "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "Certainly." very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "But how?" is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be will be renamed. "And why?" "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be third from London." "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several over here." silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his Holmes' room. "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed train from Paddington which would bring you there at about what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at conclusions. "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled we went to search for him, face downward in a little follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a obstinate." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on your sleep?' absolutely follow my advice in every respect." rat could hardly pass through." one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "In San Francisco, a year ago." Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Do you know him?" my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of my former friend and companion. his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "How often?" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in to-night." my former friend and companion. simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is ourselves in the office." Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America