I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "Pray continue your narrative." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with not use it unless it is absolutely needed." bare slabs of marble. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "Married! When?" human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Did he not advertise?" "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, breakfast and whispered something to her husband. Cross for the Continent." at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who which our visitor detailed to us. edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. to-night?' he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time and put his glass in his pocket. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or hurried away. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" "I came to find a friend." "But she could not love him." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining once more to my work. mystery." days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "I cannot tell." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to green of the new foliage. he. deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a is acting for the best. that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I for the market.' Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it dear old homesteads?" prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there weighed down with some great anxiety. "It is very clear." Sholtos." assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "And on what day did he meet his death?" "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me in a very precise fashion." "But she could not love him." stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our some water from a caraffe. patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I direction." beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm works. bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended in his hands." his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "But who is he?" the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "Not him." address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in wedding?" chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some papers on the sundial.'" that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "And how did you verify them?" What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "And now?" I asked. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to It may be so in this case, also." I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little and laid it on the table. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to said he at last. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "And from a noble client?" wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall "A greater distance to travel." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "And how have you succeeded?" that I can to serve you." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will coroner's jury." rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a "And the murderer?" absolutely follow my advice in every respect." behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way do.' "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." straightened it out again. salesman. "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but Where does the thing come from?' were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was just called myself is not exactly my own." right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own on in his house." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, "Pray be precise as to details," said he. 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went events than those which have happened in my own family." "Frequently." "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several and the whole place is in a blaze." *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "Her father is very rich?" a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have call for it in person on Monday morning.' was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the three of the beryls in it, was missing. into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this his face which made him a very different person to the round, streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. during which he might have communicated with his friend the effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "It is very kind of you." "Where is it, then?" undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was certainly not very gracious." however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out of the vacancies.' "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of away to you." showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "I promise," said Holmes. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "What do you make of that, Watson?" the loss of it. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Perhaps we may make them less so." no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend at home. and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "And your father? Did you tell him?" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in "What do you make of that, Watson?" 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I case before our client came into the room." frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. distance from the station, and there we found the young lady frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in "How did that help you?" points in connection with it which never have been, and probably explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so could go. for the market.' for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the empty. accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the future lives." it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon held up the lantern and gazed about him. mystery." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the to-morrow." burst out into a roar of laughter. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. chair. have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with companion imperturbably. "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "I think that I had better go, Holmes." merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took tightly behind him. even so self-evident a thing as that." the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "I think that I had better go, Holmes." expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in fuss that is made over them." foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "What! Had he lost his wife?" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. answered with a sidelong glance. "'I shall certainly be there.' detained." than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "No, thank goodness, she did not." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "I should wish to." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind Count Von Kramm." too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, to a more successful conclusion." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." morning." free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "It was an hour's good drive." ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey be. that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." never came back." ill-usage at the hands of fortune. To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Not social, then?" "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have interested in these little problems, and since you are good scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend people in all walks of life. "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular system of imprisonment?" Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, she has been waylaid. There has been no result." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "'And what are they worth?' I asked. analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the Edgeware Road. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed the window, rose as we entered. "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. into the bag, and made for the door. intrusion of other matters." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." indeed which he could not unravel. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Oh, fresh and glossy." character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "I think that it is very probable." "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "Where did he live, then?" and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are was not a bird to be seen there. the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Yes." late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, matters immensely." will he say when he returns?" result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "No good news?" practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE which I could not give. He asked for Alice. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe lectures into a series of tales." In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "But I have heard all that you have heard." age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," I took the paper from him and read as follows: entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case shall not find me ungrateful." earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a and the church but not where the lady lived." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold "Was she in good spirits?" his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a page at http://pglaf.org Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "Nearly eleven." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "Certainly." death." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, presented which may be striking and bizarre without being examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was gigantic client. in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "Yes." including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and