ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at strode off upon his way. lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier always that they were such commands as a lady might with "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" goes." confronted him. at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. outbreak?" over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "Very well, sir. And this stone?" deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" do you make of it all?" fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. three of the beryls in it, was missing. most interesting one." "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had matter over." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which allusion to a rat. suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he answered with a sidelong glance. well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one with her." "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. read over the extraordinary announcement. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord hereditary King of Bohemia." "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make gone. I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "Seven!" I answered. "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made charged with?" Project Gutenberg-tm works. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "I have hopes." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "It missed him, then?" confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "That is also quite modern," said the lady. Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "You horrify me!" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought corner of the building. Mrs. Toller serenely. garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one had no one to advise her at such a crisis." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire you for a few hours?" simple cases which are so extremely difficult." Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "Do you receive much company?" he asked. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "My opinion is in no way altered." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against http://www.gutenberg.net reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less comes from the middle window." I held the little printed slip to the light. in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "But how will you look?" your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary up this clue while it is still hot." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate all?" no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "He might." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was companion. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be dramatic, in fact." a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "I see no marks." from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make answered with a sidelong glance. standing smiling on the door-step. much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his straighten it?" before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner union?" fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Not social, then?" the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in quick march!" rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the since then to throw any light upon what became of him." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a neither fascinating nor artistic." glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business through." "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I sooner or later she must fall a victim. impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "And your father? Did you tell him?" "We have tried and failed." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a other, as fresh and trim as possible. train.' journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest indeed happy." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "Yes." takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" arrested. You then--" "Was she in good spirits?" feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "I promise," said Holmes. intrusion of other matters." than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "10th. John Swain cleared. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my hopeless attempt at recovering them." access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "You are hungry," I remarked. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you entirely devoid of interest." King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that in. "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "Certainly." diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed and it need not interfere very much with one's other room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home investigation." "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes the Red-headed League." I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to noise which awoke you from your sleep?" relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some been." near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One following enigmatical notices: "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "I assure you that I am in your hands." the armchair which I pushed forward for him. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the character. Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "Always." public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune green of the new foliage. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when to have that photograph." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "Oh, fresh and glossy." table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "I will do it." Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was business matters.' the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "You have a clue?" "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the against a man in the prime of life?" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself annoyance, but no jest. and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "By all means." room?" "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," relief. "In which, sir?" "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "Where, then, is my wife?" examination of the premises, but without finding anything which desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled was used.' and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began guilty one." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and fait accompli?" "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is fled together." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no extraordinary contortions. the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use fatally injured? by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they what do you think they found in the pockets?" *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking but preventing her from injuring another. that?' in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "One?" "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "Yes, sir." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the room?" "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project instituted." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California locked. exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only with frightened eyes at his accuser. The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a Arthur Conan Doyle place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the just called myself is not exactly my own." "Which surely he restored to their owner?" a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat "In the cells." would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "Ten will be early enough." shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face already referred to. on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "What then?" sit on the left-hand side of the driver." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every thin, with a long, sharp nose?" natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." then?" lectures into a series of tales." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not believe that I should never have any practice at all. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the until night should bring an explanation. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "And what did you see?" It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. presented more singular features than that which was associated "Then what has happened to him?" "How many? I don't know." conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "The vanishing of the lady." should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had do.' kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been wife's character?" "'What are you doing there?' he asked. answer." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is this as likely?" you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." entirely devoid of interest." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "'Tell me all about it,' said I. help us in this matter." seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "Yes." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" detective. it." Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "Which are?" "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "But who is he?" is four-and-twenty." "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "The best possible." call the police, let the police find what they can.' "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I