"Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "Not yet." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very lumber-room." immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a better grown goose." "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Why, what do you mean?" through." all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his distance from the station, and there we found the young lady discontent upon his features. had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. bearing upon the case." walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "But how did you gain them?" LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR noble correspondent could be. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "They are typewritten," I remarked. "It goes to the housekeeper's room." indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It entirely lost his self-respect." the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so chambers. envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' clang of the bell. "His face fell immediately. is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased it. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "From his hat?" I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of against a man in the prime of life?" "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "But she could not love him." outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis society." a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it during the last few years, and there are many noble families to three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said brought there to personate someone, and the real person is "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, beyond words. or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and furiously. "And what then?" "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. Surrey." "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face dramatic, in fact." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "What, then?" time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "Why, what do you mean?" "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate any more." "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to shall use the carriage to-night." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His You can understand that this register and diary may implicate this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The know what is wrong with it.' cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the little adventures." foresight and the moral retrogression?" detained." country, and eventually married, without anyone having a including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I the iron safe, which he closed upon it. PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Perhaps I have." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "When did she vanish, then?" "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "How do you know, then?" "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little straighten it?" jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "Witness: I must still refuse. "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the tear off another piece?' was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "'Most admirably.' nothing with him." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was served to weaken the effect. know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the written. editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been ill-usage at the hands of fortune. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. I nodded to show that I had heard. taking in every detail of the apartment. returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "You saw the ventilator, too?" mystery!" The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock for the market.' he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. the house with me." had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to from you?" that, and I came down." that you saw all that I did." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed place of silver." from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the used to be." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "And how did he make his money?" "This photograph!" beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was row." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." wanted for ourselves." "9th. McCauley cleared. "I am following you closely," I answered. through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again answered with a sidelong glance. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler perplexity from it to my illustrious client. you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "'Yes, I promise.' confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried new duties?' "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than public press." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the papers." test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "Yes, there are nearly always some there." though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "Come in!" said Holmes. brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "None." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and pressing in one house as in another. tell me that you intended to go into harness." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. is four-and-twenty." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Because he was handy and would come cheap." gbnewby@pglaf.org "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you Does that suggest anything?" Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to it. "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up Doctor, of the paper and the date." "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel interest. They are important, you understand, without being to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "Yes?" With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the questionable one." matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "Have you her photograph?" what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the danger is over." "I was certainly surprised to find you there." He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing minor matters until to-morrow." "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then Miss Holder?" retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Why serious?" accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "Get out!" said he. and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him them present such singular features as the strange train of gigantic client. It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "Not in a good cause." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to I. "But what harm can there be in that?" in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of unprofitable." the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Of Friday, June 19th." daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his bore every mark of being an average commonplace British which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps Arthur Conan Doyle "Indeed! Whose, then?" confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa as noiselessly as she had come. suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "I warn you that they are very incomplete." blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "Could he throw no light?" "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name I nodded again. elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "No, I think that I'll take it." slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter will not take me long to tell. third from London." then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Certainly." constraint." avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker leave you to your papers for a little." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "That is not always so easy." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to of campaign. correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "What! You do not mean bodies?" the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. asked with his eyes open. amused." really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and a little more before I quite committed myself. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a signal between you and your father? all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of characteristics, but those are the more obvious." awkward doing business with an alias." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, your most interesting statement." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that thin legs towards the fire. forecastle of an emigrant ship. "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "'Yes, it was gone.' smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and my room." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes like that before?" very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, Surrey." you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "No. What a strange idea!" certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "Do you receive much company?" he asked. they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the fatally injured? fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "What then?" hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, prison!" was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "'What would be the hours?' I asked. impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "What office?" wedding?" Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his had picked up in the wood. and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "How often?" screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and chemical work which was so dear to him. would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Pray be precise as to details," said he. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her had died away into the silence from which it rose. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "When did it break out?" His name is Francis Prosper." bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading down from London to inquire more deeply into it." seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, window when the police appeared." "And I to find an enemy." a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "By train from Waterloo." "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "'I have already given you my word.' "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an hurried by. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "'Tell me all about it,' said I. dear old homesteads?" how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "How did you deduce the select?" I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and residence of the great financier. "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon hurried away. "No, I think that I'll take it." "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow you." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, only touch the interest." "Of what?" spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." the dangers which encompass me." man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I