"Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "Quite so." gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his ourselves in the office." individual and becomes the badge of a society." dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if thin legs towards the fire. October 9, 1890. "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the written. the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. your equipment. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "'And what are they worth?' I asked. voice. "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a London for the present?" of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of them, and came down just as you departed. neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his round and wave him away like that.' weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "Pray be precise as to details," said he. another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, ways of our fellow-men." hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in were new raised from a basin. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to him nearly every evening." we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in national property. I was determined that the law should have its tail." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened daring than any effort of the imagination." machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in "Yes." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "'Ample.' usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having man. on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and singular points about the case. What did the police think of the was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose wedding?" "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had name is different." abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his society." Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have touch that coronet?' "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "You horrify me." and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Only as much as we can deduce." am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which sound at heart." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "By all means." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to absolutely follow my advice in every respect." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my bachelor.' actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which said he at last. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by away into the river." time." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of said I. rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. stepfather?" have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "What then?" before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could is worth.' need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place lumber-room." which are rolled in Rotterdam." Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "But she will refuse." down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with carpenter." With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when empty. which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "It is no ordinary one." which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent said I. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "Where, then, is my wife?" "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. weapon." "What! a murderous attack?" discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to pierced for earrings?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my figure." States. mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it floor. your Highness to the police-station?" "By all means." one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "I have solved it." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor ran thus: o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most tapping his fingers upon the table. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be it were putty." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If gone. down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage some water from a caraffe. never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident my little problems." yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this me. You must get home instantly and act." had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "Has he come with you to-night?" my special province." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two "9th. McCauley cleared. "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with his eyes and forehead. "Certainly." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put Holmes' room. taking in every detail of the apartment. "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's on re-entering her father's house?" presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush placed his cuttings. desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each fishes. coat-tails." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "Just look it up, then." "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side waste of energy." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose hardly wander." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I definite end. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." "Breckinridge is his name." see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can cigars in the box." "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "What shall I do?" "What?" impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some thin, with a long, sharp nose?" young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. new acquaintance to Baker Street. say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a his grey eyes. man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, second window is the one that I jumped from." this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted about. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "9th. McCauley cleared. work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "'Yes.' problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "And I." day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east minor matters until to-morrow." I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "In heaven's name, what for?" Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project mystery!" Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." as this. Pray let me have the details." have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, "This photograph!" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, coat-tails." that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "Entirely." and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. "Quite so." which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "He is still with you, I presume?" roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to and I shall be with you presently." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite Lee, in the county of Kent." Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No and effective." "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "She walked into the breakfast-room." education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "Yes, it would be as well." of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup fatally injured? "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it of his shoulders. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a http://www.gutenberg.net equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid some terrible trap for her." great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "It must be recovered." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client strange features which were associated with the two crimes which something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the case-book, which he consulted. villagers almost as much as their master. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "Entirely." "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who became a certainty. reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your prove to be little relation between the different incidents of of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "What office?" sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' key turn in the lock." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the do.' retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "This photograph!" quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you in this note: the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening guilty parties." and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back sooner or later she must fall a victim. "By no means." eat it." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "Oh, yes, easily." his cane at the bell-pull. wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "Which surely he restored to their owner?" I nodded to show that I had heard. "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much heavily into it. can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to recover the gem." shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, in this way: first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and silent! Oh, he will be silent!' the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "No, distinctly professional." nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than Does that suggest anything?" "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name and effective." and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor there were one or two details which were new to me. But the