"The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after once more on the important position which you have been fortunate shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "'Is 4 pounds a week.' staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found page at http://pglaf.org dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "'In my own bureau.' "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. "Then I shall certainly come." "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my singular points about the case. What did the police think of the your co-operation." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "Texas, I think." "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss disappearance of the bride.'" "Never." "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There morning." "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back II. "What!" he roared. knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend then?" "He is still with you, I presume?" "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit all that?" lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." the very morning of the wedding." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" front of the hall door has given its name to the place. position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "And how did you find out?" "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? long narrative. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "The decline of his fortunes, then?" Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "Then I do not see the point." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a of." "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now approach us with offers to donate. hour." thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see over with notes and figures. brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting appeal." in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for call the police, let the police find what they can.' "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that the date of his supposed suicide." "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old questioning and rather startled gaze. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the conceal it?" feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the nice household for a young lady." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" highroad, where all traces were lost. consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are what I may call a really hard day's work." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "And what did you learn from him?" "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "No good news?" "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "Precisely." "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." go from here to the Strand." "No." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "But you would not advise me to refuse?" behind me. will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "Pray do so." are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's crime. Holmes' room. which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous fire. You quite follow me?" seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." had a long day." anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, tail." during that time.' believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf already been minutely examined." "And what did you learn from him?" is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up than to us. "Could he throw no light?" pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "Well, some hundreds of times." "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you Leadenhall Street--and--" it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet call for it in person on Monday morning.' of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, there were so many in the whole country as were brought together given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "And now?" I asked. the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more States. strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the point in the dark hollow of his hand. "At half-wages, in fact." "'Ten to two.' scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a second window is the one that I jumped from." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got note?" in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "Yes." it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' fashion which was peculiar to him. the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "And from a noble client?" the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for me where it went to?" papers must be those that are destroyed.' America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of congratulate you again." often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or business?" geese which you supplied to the Alpha." of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself examine." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns disappearance of the bride.'" gives a meaning to it." children over to America with him, so that I found myself without upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "Yes, only one." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my one which it was hard to resist. "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "'Never,' said I. "Was she in good spirits?" or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate upon an income of about 60 pounds." the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was I approached. mystery may be cleared along those lines." another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been to surprise her." beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very article?" inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent the inner apartment." you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some bare slabs of marble. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled strength of mind to control. preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a than to us. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close you came in." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny one of the states of the Union." "Not I." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend seen the man in the road." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from death." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. paper in the air. agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly this remarkable episode. morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before locked." glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, he bowed and left the room without another word. Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "And sit in the dark?" discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "I am still in the dark." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of "My photograph." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. not, dad?" she asked. journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest strength of mind to control. central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked bachelor.' "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. happened." "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, against a man in the prime of life?" society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in taking in every detail of the apartment. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in until night should bring an explanation. "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. instituted." handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "And you can do nothing until then?" Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several said I. "Yes." "I was mad--insane." "And why in hopes?" face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "'Stolen!' he cried. you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." thin legs towards the fire. was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to sofa. This way, please!" begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view characteristics, but those are the more obvious." little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and The note was undated, and without either signature or address. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with have accepted such a situation. "Come in!" said Holmes. His smile broadened. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their answered with a sidelong glance. occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose key turn in the lock." coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." Pope's Court, Fleet Street." flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and is acting for the best. "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "Nearly eleven." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in acted in my house last night?" the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that yourselves in at night?" "Get out!" said he. him nearly every evening." the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "You will not go there first?" danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the here and I will read it to you: In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily appeared upon the scene." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her and it need not interfere very much with one's other allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner the best of training." little trying to do so much typewriting?" for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun swore that no one else had been in the front room during the which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Dr. Becher's." window when the police appeared." reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Yes." the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "And why in hopes?" gone. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "Nor running a chance of arrest?" might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "When did it break out?" while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible