every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora some water from a caraffe. Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "You have the photograph?" "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your signal between you and your father? him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue "I say that I have solved it." a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "My dear Holmes!" "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. a very grave face. 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle man. I know him from the photograph." then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "At what time?" would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has and wait." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "It is a murder, then?" fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Frequently." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at shag which I had seen upon the previous night. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "And the cigar-holder?" was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "'Yes, I promise.' Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the not, dad?" she asked. and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "Yes?" hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be page at http://pglaf.org "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. shoulder. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day grasp, he hurried from the room. 1.E.9. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were points in connection with it which never have been, and probably is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's charge against him will break down." of this gang." could gather together that I was able to avert another public "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's The note was undated, and without either signature or address. His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do tell them apart.' have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day prison!" dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases carriage. It was a chestnut." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter it. "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric not as remarkable as your advertisement." chemical work which was so dear to him. "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "And Irene Adler?" to-morrow." client, rising. "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly occupations.' two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in official police." southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his bore every mark of being an average commonplace British I held the little printed slip to the light. keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project papers diligently of late, have you not?" of." carpenter." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "Which surely he restored to their owner?" time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to both be extremely obliged.' turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major the nursery. then?" him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of take the flies, but not before." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "Well, but China?" nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive this poor creature." hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent individual and becomes the badge of a society." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon there has been an enclosure here!" "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little father's young wife. provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "By no means." one or two very singular points about this room. For example, http://gutenberg.net/license). "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have own family. "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an would then never go into court at all." sneer upon his pale face. I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official of a light. baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a had died away into the silence from which it rose. very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "'How far from the body?' without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the reach." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; tapping his fingers upon the table. lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which walking." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we salesman. Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband the ceiling. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to with her." As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with instincts rose up against that laugh. "And you thought he was pulled back?" the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "You have carte blanche." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "No. What a strange idea!" side. monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "The doctor?" "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad 'please.'" means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Yes, there are nearly always some there." himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest directors have had misgivings upon the subject." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an noble correspondent could be. old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "Stolen." "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "Yesterday." THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "No legal papers or certificates?" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the delirious. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "And what did you see?" well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "I have come for advice." same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some not within a twentieth part of the market price." touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large "Yes, I have one waiting." luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there Cross for the Continent." until night should bring an explanation. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his "Dr. Becher's." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "Then the page we have seen--" which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment in a very precise fashion." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his used to be." with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features third from London." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "What! Had he lost his wife?" green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and and put his glass in his pocket. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door wall." bonnet, and went out." I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "You horrify me!" "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "You think that he is dead?" depend upon my doing so.' it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was wanted for ourselves." he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "VIOLET HUNTER." sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close me. You must get home instantly and act." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "How did you trace it, then?" comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. assist you in forming an opinion." "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin me. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it clang of the bell. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the of your young ladies.' remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "Murdered?" morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, States. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage upon the shelf for the interim." "Then you may entirely rely on me." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that swore that no one else had been in the front room during the possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "But how will you look?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "Only as much as we can deduce." thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "'Why that?' I asks. himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without to some other building. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in compunction about shooting them down." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "Yes, certainly." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "How on earth--" through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the weapon." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "Then the page we have seen--" of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, definite end. take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. "She told me to ask you." "It looks newer than the other things?" quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "I am sure." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we just ask you whether you had heard it.' foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "No legal papers or certificates?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the served to weaken the effect. "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to so far?" which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a The events in question occurred in the early days of my my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing you in yours." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE papers on the sundial.'" interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the Pope's Court. across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not the house with me." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to some city in a dream. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included felt?" he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "Yes, the wine-cellar." "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and chamber." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "And your father? Did you tell him?" father's young wife. shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot and glanced through. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. 11:15.' was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "'Stolen!' he cried. "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than