came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." article?" jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "That is not always so easy." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "And when will you call?" my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect of receipt of the work. "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our just called myself is not exactly my own." was the fact that his father should, according to his account, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little think that he is innocent?" "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone any more." with the outside air!" possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of for its centre. lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, thin, with a long, sharp nose?" that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It it right.' hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "It's nothing of the kind." the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own question. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more dear old homesteads?" flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had swore that no one else had been in the front room during the crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, burst out into a roar of laughter. 'I should be able to look after that for you.' right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." cheerful." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to you." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have again, where I was soon asleep. "Precisely." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If be.' breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat place no limit on the sum I may draw." to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her into her hand at the door and which lured her within their I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a events than those which have happened in my own family." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "But your client--" "And how have you succeeded?" of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will conceal it?" did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." not fit the lock." "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? his eyes and forehead. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He presume?" International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make promised to bring home. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "From his hat?" betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to may have an influence upon European history." he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "But he might be a bachelor." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I other means.' ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. them?" the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time existence." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to means taking possession of that which another person has a prior chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to address. difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and she might be summoned. would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "How did that help you?" voice. butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "He said that you could solve anything." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father present." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "By no means." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we said he. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My brain must have something in it." crackling voice. Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, "What have you done?" asked Holmes. call for protection in the marriage market, for the present his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. could go. "Texas, I think." Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at extraordinary contortions. and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present any." "Who was the criminal, then?" "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main said he at last. analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your child?' world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting some water from a caraffe. "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the through." in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the if she died from some sudden fright." square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "And your mother is alive?" opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can "Why did you beat the pavement?" at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "That also I could fathom." Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his himself to hunt down. "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "It missed him, then?" know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, cheerful." "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "What will you do, then?" my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in the very morning of the wedding." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a most interesting one." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric fish-monger and a tide-waiter." forehead. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Yes." was a lad." The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was lumber-room." subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "I see many objections to any such theory." grasp, he hurried from the room. he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very sit on the left-hand side of the driver." should be taken.' village inn over there?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At Holmes' face clouded over. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. British peeress.'" was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper retorted upon me, and I on you." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about his knees, staring into the fire. pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something prisoner's face. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "On the contrary, this is the right side." deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that man. coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "To an English lawyer named Norton." anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "'You cannot say what it was?' Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. crime. are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" face and glided from the room. fait accompli?" had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. clang of the bell. would then never go into court at all." even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to redistribution. "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "9th. McCauley cleared. I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a of campaign. Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, License. You must require such a user to return or "It may not come to that," said Holmes. instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told unclasping of his long thin hands. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of and looked back. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a What do you deduce from it?" ran thus: the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "Bought." "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted singular points about the case. What did the police think of the huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "Well." "Not in a good cause." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you guilty parties." him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "Where did he live, then?" probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "Was there a secret marriage?" return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. are, I think, all that we need." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "At half-wages, in fact." have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church shadow pass over his face as I spoke. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we had formerly been in part my own. although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. jewels which you have stolen?' at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to this as likely?" frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "But she could not love him." occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort Munro.' "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness prisoner's face. "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet chambers. up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "I have solved it." means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of success. "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I locked. "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last