from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "A thing like a cleaver," said he. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and narrative." Does that suggest anything?" wanted for ourselves." lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur lost nothing by them." state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "Have you it here?" first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his pound a week." might help us?" "The Cedars?" "It is his hat." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." gone. question," said Holmes, smiling. individual and becomes the badge of a society." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' less than 26s. 4d. should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "But of what society?" Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "Could he throw no light?" "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who new acquaintance to Baker Street. "I was afraid that you were engaged." "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If we went to search for him, face downward in a little statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, off." Young McCarthy must be got off, however." our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "Two days later this same performance was gone through under to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn rat could hardly pass through." more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "She will not sell." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My client, rising. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue Watson," he said cordially. observed. wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "I think that it is very probable." "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as at once, for I have only half an hour." "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon might have a private word with us. branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that said he. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, It may be so in this case, also." year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing window when the police appeared." so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an Mrs. Toller serenely. "Yes, all." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "How did you trace it, then?" voice, changing her seat as requested. "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "You think so, too?" very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and Farm upon the left." soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "And how?" "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the guilty one." Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to experiences." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and the warnings." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "'And what salary do you ask?' back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "You think that he is dead?" "Certainly, madam." firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "It certainly sounds feasible." that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered meant." "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "I would pay ten." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If in his power. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "But who is he?" back into the street. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." bare slabs of marble. cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And was used.' after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a about. "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business golden eyeglasses. deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." detective. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered him." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight carriage. It was a chestnut." better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for third from London." air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." whether it answered to the description of any of their nothing of it?" about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so little trying to do so much typewriting?" freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness the warnings." be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "And help." fuss that is made over them." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" read over the extraordinary announcement. rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had new acquaintance to Baker Street. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "Won't it ring?" the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "I shall most certainly do so." As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when easy-going way." position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" his knees, staring into the fire. Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of his face. "Well, it is a possible supposition." cheerful." brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "So I am. Very much so." you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his are, and they are waiting for us." "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "You horrify me." eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would "In San Francisco, a year ago." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "And the murderer?" of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution weighed down with some great anxiety. which I could not give. He asked for Alice. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from ready to-morrow?' to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. them?" "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "You saw the ventilator, too?" "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have walking." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "I would pay ten." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "They are typewritten," I remarked. "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' into the room. across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "At what time?" to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She must be when I saw the door open.' "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly true." "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "What steps will you take?" I asked. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to purpose equally well?" third from London." effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "Very murderous indeed." some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found held up the lantern and gazed about him. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "By train from Waterloo." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is during that time.' "You were travelling in the States?" already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: never will be, entirely cleared up. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "I am all attention, madam." "Come in!" said he. used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "Murdered?" mystery!" following enigmatical notices: what is your own theory as to what took place?" to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "It was a confession," I ejaculated. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." him." certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was You can understand that this register and diary may implicate fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat Sutherland. indiscretion." was the fact that his father should, according to his account, closing the door. case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, "And what then?" "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "I am armed." plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. might help us?" distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the roots. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have lost his Christmas dinner." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "Then how many are there?" fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "I say that I have solved it." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a open." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which to where he stood hid behind the curtain. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "My dear Holmes!" "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant you?" compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "Here?" "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for it." Mrs. Toller serenely. it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed vanished into the darkness. the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent Chief Executive and Director electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "Yes, all." her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with weighed down with some great anxiety. and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down them?" sentimental considerations in the background which would induce Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" because she had spent so short a time in this country that she have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "You horrify me!" has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "Frequently." Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to late." "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "Never to return." when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "It is to him that this trophy belongs." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man relation between them, and what the object of his repeated "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "But of what society?" I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "Oh, fresh and glossy." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William