"Pray be precise as to details," said he. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to is now desirous of getting those letters back." newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "He is still with you, I presume?" basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "Tired-looking or fresh?" "'And what are they worth?' I asked. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, said I. from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "When did she vanish, then?" "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you to you." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was purpose of examination. look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." little adventures." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, this remarkable episode. moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards any." and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little shoulder. idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should there in twenty minutes." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still things are very often connected not with the larger but with the and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he place, I think that there is good ground to think that the Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "Did you observe the colour?" Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside locked. rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do noise which awoke you from your sleep?" objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I touch that coronet?' very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your matter." photograph?" that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand room?" dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them II. all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin any more." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "At half-wages, in fact." upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and stalked out of the room. will take you up to see the machine.' which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting cup of tea. "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "No, distinctly professional." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from fishes. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called giving me time to thank him. pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "Was she in good spirits?" value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "Certainly." too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each placed his cuttings. writer." "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who if she died from some sudden fright." was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are flock.' "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "'I shall certainly be there.' passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and before the coroner and the police-court." Dr. Gregory B. Newby "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the like gravel from a pit.' companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed might help us?" resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "You have the photograph?" "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit people in all walks of life. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "A thing like a cleaver," said he. very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm been shamefully used." again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to acted in my house last night?" I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us the devil!" "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A in this note: mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered was once confined in the cab my mission was practically following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a spare." - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from instincts rose up against that laugh. seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "And how did you find out?" to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer and your relations to her." himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in is worth.' by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from narrative." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still cost them two and thirty pounds." morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot to that open window." It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "Precisely so. But how--" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, my special province." "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out "Yes." came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing one of them." "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing "My dear Holmes!" of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and me what he had done with the three missing stones. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "I would pay ten." demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, quick march!" "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much several quiet little villages up there." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. where we are going." at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible house for five minutes.' so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she 1.E.9. produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "Absolutely?" "Her father is very rich?" could go. "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked that he will be back before evening." "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as knowledge of the world." "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I front of the hall door has given its name to the place. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "What, then?" Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." go--none." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." go back?" bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to prepare for the new role I have to play." "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." train.' of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the of the one which your family is now devouring." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a miles off. investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "In heaven's name, what for?" reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into woven round him. blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little were unconscious?" "You did not overhear what they said?" "Two days later this same performance was gone through under It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "The murder was done with it." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless tear off another piece?' finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "Did your wife hear all this?" the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "Yes, sir." to-night." tell me that you intended to go into harness." by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "Why? What do you mean?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out McCarthy." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: the bottom.' "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging within hail.' the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which that threaten you." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. notes," he said. "That you are never beaten." lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your events, Mr. Windibank!" footfalls from the street. "It is true that I have been generally successful." "And you can do nothing until then?" "There is the writing." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were be.' takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the detained." The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, http://www.gutenberg.net "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" "He might." another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and go back?" inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no passage and a tap at the door. an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which will find little credit to be gained out of this case." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I one or two very singular points about this room. For example, next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "A greater distance to travel." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "Stolen, then." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "No." "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "The doctor?" The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his straighten it?" it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "But you would not advise me to refuse?" the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Not yet." I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "Nothing?" the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Then what has happened to him?" wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" It may be so in this case, also." himself to tell his story. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He writer." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and the window, rose as we entered. the one as in the other." "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly everything which you would wish to know." happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could at once, for I have only half an hour." "I will, Miss Turner." do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, fled together." Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry sneer upon his pale face. joking. anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "Of what?" over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I humiliation." not interfere, come what may. You understand?" perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "If I can be of use." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other developed." a monotonous occupation." unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the six. Come in!" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on "Well, it is a possible supposition." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, habit of advancing money.' But Holmes shook his head gravely. St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at