There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "I cannot say that I have." greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and his face. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "Precisely." touch that coronet?' the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said eavesdroppers?' should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and to take care of herself." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. was lame." may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "About a month then." as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the key turn in the lock." cigars in the box." before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it whereabouts. on re-entering her father's house?" will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "It is his hat." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your matter." seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "Yes, he did." inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "Absolutely none." paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he recall any case within my experience which looked at the first had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the like gravel from a pit.' "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "Yes." making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he John Swain, of St. Augustine. to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "His face fell immediately. delirious. up this clue while it is still hot." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "You have it, sir, just as it happened." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "Certainly." in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his back into the street. "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how you?" highly," said Holmes. "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" the coroner come to?" still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and should be taken.' "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he just ask you whether you had heard it.' glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying morning." it." think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the became a certainty. disappearance of the bride.'" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "Very well, sir. And this stone?" of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, the warnings." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "And sit in the dark?" it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "I will do it." remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "Yes, only one." both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael begun to whiten, even as mine has." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, power." "I see no marks." these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of desk. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord redistribution. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." Foundation in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "My own seal." your most interesting statement." brain must have something in it." Pope's Court. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which criminal. We have already had experience of such." dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, is so. I know all about McCarthy." her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the at home. fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "Then I am your man." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at http://gutenberg.net/license). "Stolen, then." 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote questionable one." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "We must have a cab." the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "His face fell immediately. secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in he died? to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "That's no good." some city in a dream. eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every III. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense the ceiling. upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at room had already been engaged for us. or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. were wasted." though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of national property. I was determined that the law should have its it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you hurried by. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less like gravel from a pit.' room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." eavesdroppers?' "I say it is." you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite outsides of the windows. "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party yards of it?' it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' his huge brown hands. houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "My private note-paper." "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was within hail.' writers could invent nothing more crude." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded during the last few years, and there are many noble families to Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "And why?" fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." ourselves in the office." thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "But it has twice been burgled." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, miles off. "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of opened the door, and slipped through. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing me. You must get home instantly and act." brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "Yes, from Horsham." the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. something of him before." earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand "Where to?" had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "And sit in the dark?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house straightened it out again. hereditary King of Bohemia." memory. that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had with the outside air!" stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would delirious. was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up was a loud and authoritative tap. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's very morning of my second wedding." routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "Was there a secret marriage?" be there in time for your coming." Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "And I." himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his which was all perfectly true. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who one of the states of the Union." friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, door?" crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same true." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "But how will you look?" "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my you." destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "I am following you closely," I answered. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid carried out of court." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my ceremony." puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down instituted." reach." myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very call for it in person on Monday morning.' all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "I shall be delighted." think that he is innocent?" "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had again on its way. Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some be.' have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "Have you her photograph?" they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, "No. His orders were to stay in the house." qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "Will you go?" suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. DAMAGE. and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. open." here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." noble correspondent could be. purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I confronted him. of the way of danger. and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought deduce something from that?" strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in recover the gem." directly by questioning you." married her." "That also I could fathom." Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "But his left-handedness." "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my evidence," I remarked. against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went gbnewby@pglaf.org on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to the driver. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "I cannot say that I have." "At the wedding breakfast." Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent strength of mind to control. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "'What then?' I asked. "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I entirely lost his self-respect." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to his eyes and forehead. twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "Won't it ring?" quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the was not a bird to be seen there. is now desirous of getting those letters back." stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which instincts rose up against that laugh. you in yours." very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am it right.' was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "The vanishing of the lady." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange sofa. This way, please!" established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "Come in!" said Holmes. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there bare slabs of marble. during that time.' Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "But how?" "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on you for a few hours?" daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "And that is--" heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "It is very clear." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? DISSOLVED. simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional unprecedented a position." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "No." do.' to that open window." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the he died? despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our him!" late!' question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I might have a private word with us. "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the if she died from some sudden fright." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this pressing in one house as in another.