and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they maid will bring up your coffee." days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' there in twenty minutes." "No, my brougham is waiting." for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "'Ample.' Edgeware Road. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "No legal papers or certificates?" absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the round and wave him away like that.' an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a there was no need for father to know." hurried by. pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "What steps will you take?" I asked. willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way corner of the building. Holmes." acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "Married! When?" these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The your bag." "Then I do not see the point." See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which as noiselessly as she had come. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the crowd. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not the coronet at all injured?" constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, But Holmes shook his head gravely. crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her papers." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "But how could you guess what the motive was?" For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon "'Then let me do so?' little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me London for the present?" foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." any." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real his cane at the bell-pull. To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." all that?" for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "I am to be neutral?" keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "Pray do so." England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "'As governess?' weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "And now?" He raised his hand. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose minor matters until to-morrow." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "'Yes, it was gone.' could gather together that I was able to avert another public "Oh, the cause is excellent!" forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of fact, we may call it conclusive." that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend searched, without anything being found which could incriminate surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, it." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet served to weaken the effect. death." what is your own theory as to what took place?" INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH when you have done it." "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "I cannot as yet see any connection." free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his too. "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "You are hungry," I remarked. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can points to suicide?" Stoke Moran." station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across have been better. It is all right." is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been to-night?' "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be flock.' now. It seems that there had been some informality about their homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to breakfast?" "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. simple cases which are so extremely difficult." daring than any effort of the imagination." the child." "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a habit of advancing money.' "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps carpenter." and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he coat-tails." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this been shamefully used." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. guilty one." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in whatever might befall. once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "Witness: It was. affair. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "'Never.' up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he note?" "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Not yet." at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on the matter?" "Nearly eleven." you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "And your mother is alive?" "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which this as likely?" "What will you do, then?" sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "I came to find a friend." "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "Thank you. Pray proceed." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "At what time?" know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "It is possible." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, for and were ordered to this address. "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, less than 26s. 4d. his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "Certainly, madam." bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "Stolen." his cane at the bell-pull. hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "'What are you doing there?' he asked. shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the up this clue while it is still hot." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "Why serious?" the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "What, then?" way in everything. society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and problems help me to do so." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he this Miss Turner." back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is think you a quite exceptional woman." and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his http://gutenberg.net/license). then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "It may not come to that," said Holmes. which should have the effect of calling the attention of the the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her the morning and make my own way in the world.' an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "You know me, then?" could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. that, and I came down." been shamefully used." good-night and bustled off upon her way. feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable the King without delay." once more on the important position which you have been fortunate is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of again before evening." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for all-comprehensive glances. have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position feature." that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the locked." to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "In answer to an advertisement." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "Pray continue your narrative." is a common subject for conversation. at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than one or two very singular points about this room. For example, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to and put his glass in his pocket. the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no intimate personal affairs in this public manner." that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. tied." office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the that he has suffered." "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with his forehead." quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." which we had just quitted. is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "'What would be the hours?' I asked. other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood distinguish the words: frequently gained my first real insight into the character of coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would spark where all is dark to me." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a six. Come in!" "Look there!" said he. The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing Again Holmes raved in the air. more solid." doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of even of instruction." "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "By no means." "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "Ha! you find it so?" your room." without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no "And when will you call?" object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "You know me, then?" We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me drawing your inferences." thin, with a long, sharp nose?" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. and it need not interfere very much with one's other cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" manager. him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we any." "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, chance at all." considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "No." little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. cheerful." who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "My last client of the sort was a king." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two Stoke Moran." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it copied or distributed: "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital his fortune, and I went back to pa. blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "By all means." handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. simple cases which are so extremely difficult." and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to the window, rose as we entered. buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern "And I." since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I suddenly upon us." "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. remarked. me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic