and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some October 9, 1890. It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on distinguish the words: "And I say east," said my patient. clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining in the port of London." everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. him. expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into if only as a check to my own memory." Pool. I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" client, rising. large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "I was sure that I might rely on you." feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "And sit in the dark?" like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down business?" hurried away. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "Then how many are there?" eavesdroppers?' platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running make me his representative both with the servants and with the My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, geese which you supplied to the Alpha." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She my former friend and companion. or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless indeed which he could not unravel. from the brougham. "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that foresight and the moral retrogression?" has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened the morning and make my own way in the world.' and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to telegram would bring me down to your help." poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "9th. McCauley cleared. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was would apply.' "My stepfather's business papers." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and him. "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout locked." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "And for present expenses?" It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a bled considerably." "Yes, the wine-cellar." abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a guilty parties." He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have helping a boy to put up the shutters. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "Did you become engaged then?" "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was unprofitable." "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "'And what are they worth?' I asked. questionable one." does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we some city in a dream. hand, madam?" It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, presented more singular features than that which was associated observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during weary and pale-looking. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the retorted upon me, and I on you." I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "You have compromised yourself seriously." "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "It was a confession," I ejaculated. time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to were new raised from a basin. maid will bring up your coffee." was already answered. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always may never be exposed to such a temptation." wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in peculiar to him. the room while you explain this matter?" He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "What do you make of that, Watson?" the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "The Cedars?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps mystery." permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, remarked. table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "No, I am descending." Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "The best possible." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the in a very precise fashion." A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our despaired of." "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the quick march!" appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." records." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always than was visible to me." and your relations to her." Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. that he will be back before evening." "My dear Holmes!" Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. for securing the situation." his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable could go. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until which are rolled in Rotterdam." their singular warning or token before them when starting upon suggested at once that there must be a communication between the it." at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his keep the flames under. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the dead, shall be safe with us." that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, indeed happy." 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to salesman. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "'Most admirably.' THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "Two days later this same performance was gone through under yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite I shall communicate with you." shoulder. waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King astonishment. "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I ventilator." impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot words came to my lips. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "I have hopes." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "Certainly." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." locked. quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court bed dies. Does not that strike you?" sooner or later she must fall a victim. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into so far?" which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for "What of the rat, then?" "And on what day did he meet his death?" imbecility!" he cried. so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for evidence," I remarked. it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried his grey eyes. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. was lame." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and your room." wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "That was it, sir." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady records." sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "Here?" scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a eat it." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "Yes, that is the Crown." "Did your wife hear all this?" least a most suspicious remark." located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "The Coroner: What do you mean? accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to "Pray continue your narrative." to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear the salesman. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Why did you pick him?" and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come you came in." "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, weapon." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the so-precious time, but come!' tied." existence." remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "'Is 4 pounds a week.' struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, was feeling which was the fattest.' this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "But you were on a friendly footing?" asked with his eyes open. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "Yes." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "A greater distance to travel." both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the wall." "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, conduct the inquiry." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Where is it, then?" pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she test if we have an answer to our advertisement." cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have Leadenhall Street--and--" would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "Then the page we have seen--" Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the infinite languor in his face. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before whereabouts. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A unprofitable." bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about at my remark. very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "I warn you that they are very incomplete." of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "And I." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the mysterious business." "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and over his head with a sweet womanly caress. he. Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their characteristics, but those are the more obvious." she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of green of the new foliage. colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "But who is he?" "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "She showed me, as I told you she would." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he posted to-day." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a hopeless attempt at recovering them." serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as main points of my analysis." "'As governess?' twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case bonnet, and went out." cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it believe that I should never have any practice at all. out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head and that he would see to anything that turned up. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, danger is over." reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. thin, with a long, sharp nose?" fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even beg that you will break it off." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he During two years I have had three consultations and one small 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face American. Then who could this American be, and why should he a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, new acquaintance to Baker Street. places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was