"Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If Holmes rather sternly. the Friday. Was it to be in church?" never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining grasp, he hurried from the room. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." back into the street. hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his observed. "And that is--" "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." useful material for showing traces. The double line a little however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third and I shall be with you presently." "Absolutely none." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting forebodings. be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard have established a very serious case against the son of the "Yes." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "She will not sell." certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "Look there!" said he. must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "Have you it here?" "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "And now?" He raised his hand. "But how will you look?" hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and that you saw all that I did." present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "But she will refuse." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of swore that no one else had been in the front room during the Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "Certainly." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most some terrible trap for her." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "And what did you see?" adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so you?" Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that she used." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "'Yes, it was gone.' years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small key turn in the lock." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the wife's character?" until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, call it cruel." Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "'No, I know no one in these parts.' the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Then, how do you know?" "You were travelling in the States?" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the come either from the window or the door. My attention was in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never to arrive at through this?" it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California society." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with "And why in hopes?" "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! and files of the old papers, following the future career of every would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "You have but to name it." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way strength in the others." "'Yes, I promise.' "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." events than those which have happened in my own family." "What are they?" glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "And why?" bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms "'And what salary do you ask?' lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they of the efforts of the United States government and of the better presume?" and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "'Is purely nominal.' one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, later, upon the night of May 2nd." feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "Game for a morning drive?" "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, was a perfect sample of the class. "Always." "Never." deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as floor. morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of of your young ladies.' wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "There is the writing." "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" a little more before I quite committed myself. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and carpenter." This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "Then I do not see the point." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "'Stolen!' he cried. nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of into her hand at the door and which lured her within their myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "My last client of the sort was a king." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "A thing like a cleaver," said he. chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." License. You must require such a user to return or details." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an at home. "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out "No, I had a dozen." out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told "You are certainly joking, Holmes." case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "How do you know, then?" "Yes." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "The Coroner: What do you mean? this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's mystery!" clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of the Red-headed League." "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "What is it?" "Eh? What was that?" then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "The gentleman I describe." the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry hard-headed British jury." analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without o'clock is it?" light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we James Windibank. Voilà tout!" Street. to a more successful conclusion." unclasping of his long thin hands. "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "And sit in the dark?" wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the someone who had been in Australia." which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey Sutherland. madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "It's nothing of the kind." indeed which he could not unravel. leaning back in his chair. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" the child." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts and prosperity to your house. Good-night." good for you to do.' it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "The gentleman I describe." http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see this unhappy family?" vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his tassel actually lying upon the pillow. in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "It is a murder, then?" have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, throat." wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal of the vacancies.' colonel looking down at me. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "I have my revolver," said I. "I cannot think." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "It was." About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe God! What an exposure! What can I do?" could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I friend's singular character. doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "Because he was handy and would come cheap." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with details." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "Yes, I have one waiting." grasp, he hurried from the room. whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird "And you don't know his address?" clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "One of his hands." beyond words. have got?" window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be the south-west, I see." Sutherland. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has along the entire front of the house, with three long windows is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe companion quietly. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it anything to do with the matter?" platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few from the brougham. view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was neither fascinating nor artistic." which was all perfectly true. is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." for its centre. "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you hand, madam?" person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was and the whole place is in a blaze." settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive secret." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "And why in hopes?" points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles "Here?" almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or DISSOLVED. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he are, and they are waiting for us." stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor before, for it was considerably after midnight. "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "It is very kind of you." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw when your master had gone out." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' astonishment. of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the delirious. to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which begin with, and I had not got mine yet." London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "You were travelling in the States?" greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "Yes." the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's the general public were present, then?" springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, are, and they are waiting for us." "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "'And the work?' "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "He slept on the premises." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "What?" McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are do.' grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "That you are never beaten." to me. dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to very peculiar words of the dying woman?" upon an income of about 60 pounds." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of sufficient punishment." society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "Can I be of assistance?" Foundation when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was direction." "Ha! you find it so?" premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly,