on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to crime." the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "No." which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "No, but the enclosure is." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small "He is dead," cried several voices. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him not use it unless it is absolutely needed." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was DISSOLVED. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his your billet.' reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "Bought." sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the the very morning of the wedding." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "No, finished." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "So it appears." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored forebodings. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "'Why that?' I asks. I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "How do you know, then?" difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down forbidden door. "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "'Tell me all about it,' said I. might have a private word with us. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then Holmes' face clouded over. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "'What are you doing there?' he asked. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress the bottom.' Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the coat-tails." swore that no one else had been in the front room during the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "'Very good.' bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set bed dies. Does not that strike you?" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even ill-usage at the hands of fortune. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become upon a handsome competence. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was paper in the air. "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "Certainly." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "Where did he live, then?" to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." be there in time for your coming." key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "By no means." more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found "Very. But will he see it?" strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon wanted for ourselves." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I thin legs towards the fire. "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who Cross for the Continent." conclusions. in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "Then the page we have seen--" money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. room had already been engaged for us. approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, way in." some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that get her out of the way." as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little figure." ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "And on what day did he meet his death?" "On your arm?" wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that girl said." between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "You don't mind breaking the law?" sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was do.' near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he obstinate." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "So it appears." forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring me where it went to?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to get her out of the way." a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? breakfast." blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "He disappeared so suddenly." here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "Have you her photograph?" "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and keep the flames under. "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the to that open window." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled is a common subject for conversation. as yours." trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again mystery!" the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little you give your casting vote to?" "Yes." shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "Just look it up, then." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence prison!" "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "'Then let me do so?' to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be ashen face. Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, but preventing her from injuring another. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" said Mr. Holder. "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness means taking possession of that which another person has a prior to surprise her." "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "I am in hopes that she does." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun "Well, some hundreds of times." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of politicians who had been sent down from the North. and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman nonsense.' "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be lamp in his hand. bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not your most interesting statement." "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever ourselves in the office." difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were the coronet in his hand?" think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it the stable lane now." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself she to prove their authenticity?" "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "Did he not advertise?" the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the then?" carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but three of the beryls in it, was missing. heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "Can I be of assistance?" "What then?" every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the photograph?" had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, "'I have already given you my word.' "A confidential servant?" Gutenberg-tm License. Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been ill-usage at the hands of fortune. the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of danger is over." to-night." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I bachelor.' you." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "The doctor?" "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then woman." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few all-comprehensive glances. heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about strength of mind to control. bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "No." was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." from the brougham. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." vague figure huddled up in the darkness. absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" his face. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you weary and pale-looking. "But she could not love him." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "Ah!" cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other said I. clang of the bell. "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices the coronet at all injured?" "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, it means?" the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. dead, shall be safe with us." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for because she had spent so short a time in this country that she became a certainty. "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told upon the white wrist. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled imbecility!" he cried. overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "May I see it?" certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "No legal papers or certificates?" smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been miles off. erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, read it out to me." "I am sure." "Never." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been Lee, in the county of Kent." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six do you make of it all?" our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without answered with a sidelong glance. "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out kindly on the shoulder. him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper arms and began to sob in a high treble key. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the the coronet in his hands?" away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "There is the writing." "Yes." straighten it?" "What! Had he lost his wife?" key turn in the lock." were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to my special province." a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. go back?" I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of o'clock is it?" other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by once more. "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque triumphant cloud from his cigarette. meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be examine." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the test if we have an answer to our advertisement." into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was hands. pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "Yes, only one." "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "But I am all in the dark." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began his eyes and forehead.