"'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "I have a cab outside." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest know all about it," he snarled. more terrible than the truth. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "Where did he live, then?" despair." sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the "You were travelling in the States?" I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in was shining brightly. particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more started for the Temple to see my husband. her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "You were travelling in the States?" before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich of receipt of the work. hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "Yes, from Horsham." opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I dear old homesteads?" and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the I think that I could be of assistance to you." quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is now. It seems that there had been some informality about their gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a detective. "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. into the room. you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a arms and began to sob in a high treble key. which it had come upon my father." "'Ten to two.' a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent works. Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might kindly on the shoulder. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it fasten all the windows?" with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "I do." push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in My friend smiled. foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "I have hopes." and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who gbnewby@pglaf.org way in." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking question," said Holmes, smiling. "'You doubt its value?' he asked. as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been your only hope of safety." not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "You have it, sir, just as it happened." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any himself in a perplexing position. the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to formed some opinion?" It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis most interesting one." distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little Holmes' face clouded over. "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "Well?" "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." miles off. My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his keep the flames under. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project case-book, which he consulted. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited to arrive at through this?" then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, "'No, I know no one in these parts.' over here." Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over Countess of Morcar's?" eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. than was visible to me." broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "'What, the red-headed man?' but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "You have a clue?" than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "Nor running a chance of arrest?" and no precautions can guard against." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." advice." the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw Holmes' face clouded over. out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. Again Holmes raved in the air. heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, you." and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained maid will bring up your coffee." known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted question. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "'It is locked up,' I answered. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, my room." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." ago." we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, happened." "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. works. letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was morning." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I footfalls from the street. "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." in one or two places in England?' "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my was shining brightly. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "But he might be a bachelor." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. that and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house maid will bring up your coffee." some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as derbies." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "Come in!" said he. set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this this man was intellectual?" I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence speckled band?" flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "No. His orders were to stay in the house." caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "How did you deduce the select?" Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most before, for it was considerably after midnight. depend upon your compliance." "The landlord of the Alpha." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an placed his cuttings. the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the over with notes and figures. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "Never." Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "In the cells." can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where appeal." the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you you." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes shoulder. back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "Bought." of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of sound at heart." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "It came here." "You have but to name it." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their in this way: destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "The vanishing of the lady." human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman that he has suffered." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of Watson," he said cordially. forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "'Oh, no.' pressing in one house as in another. but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, bird I ate is country bred." rose-bushes. younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance waste of energy." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be to you." "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Yes, it was twisted." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms as noiselessly as she had come. but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "Well, but China?" which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "'What then?' I asked. perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, call it cruel." actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "What can you not understand?" right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager swore that no one else had been in the front room during the vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." get her out of the way." him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted business." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you coroner's jury." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained "Then you may entirely rely on me." dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." It was close upon four before the door opened, and a if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than 1.F. I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "Perfectly so." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" The summons was a brief and urgent one. There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining father's place of business?" after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of the stones. against a man in the prime of life?" of them has the shutters up.' whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in point in the dark hollow of his hand. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than not within a twentieth part of the market price." passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them get the tickets." "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "I say that I have solved it." Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "It is a murder, then?" so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little any little problem which you may submit to me." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed