"And is that all?" dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of eat it." subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss "I think that I had better go, Holmes." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "'About the same.' "Not social, then?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which some place of shelter and let the county police know what has use an arc-and-compass breastpin." greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple off." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "But I am all in the dark." wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "Yes, I have one waiting." street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the ashen face. manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind taking in every detail of the apartment. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Always." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On could not account in any way for the presence of the missing perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on to-night?' no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "My dear Holmes!" "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I entirely devoid of interest." "Frequently." with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its vanished into the darkness. robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "On the contrary, this is the right side." the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "Nearly eleven." all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred respectable self." derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "I cannot say that I have." and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "If so, much may have happened between." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed foot. "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in is four-and-twenty." one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Where did he live, then?" winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "'And the work?' "And how did you find out?" in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "Yes, he did." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but never to learn it at all." present." One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed locked." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, arrangements." "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from Holmes rather sternly. their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and been able to understand it, in a very few words. suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "'A dozen yards or so.' Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," be there in time for your coming." who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was eavesdroppers?' us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, *** START: FULL LICENSE *** and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "Never to return." words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a not interfere, come what may. You understand?" your most interesting statement." with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud the tragedy. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might "Very murderous indeed." drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who intrusion of other matters." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." your bag." Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely vault. volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and is four-and-twenty." bird of prey. "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our then?" that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "Where, then?" even of instruction." whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. my room." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" purpose equally well?" to a more successful conclusion." had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the people don't know." "Nothing." it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say cause to be." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "I see many objections to any such theory." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of him. me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "'No, I know no one in these parts.' with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here voice. carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case important." finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, answered with a sidelong glance. the nursery. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a my special province." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case one's self under obligations.' "'Which dealer's?' To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free forbidden door. closely." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and hands. headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by this as likely?" disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "What is it, then--a fire?" This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which the bed, and you in that chair." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to made him keep the appointment." in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. strength." the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "Yesterday." surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the and the colonel ushered me in. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "Certainly." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but would apply.' to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "Yesterday." "Will you go?" Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, started for the Temple to see my husband. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "How did you trace it, then?" call you and give you the chance." my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at she might be summoned. There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That chance." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were may have an influence upon European history." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "I cannot tell." hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you future lives." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the better grown goose." compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be pierced for earrings?" "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "A call for help, you thought?" yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "Only as much as we can deduce." adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases tied." forebodings. next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "Texas, I think." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door what I may call a really hard day's work." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the asked. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom there has been an enclosure here!" that you saw all that I did." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "Now, then, what's the last entry?" charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of conclusions. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and than to us. came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "I have come for advice." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "You think that he is dead?" at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "None. Neville wrote those words." "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" the south-west, I see." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some the bed, and you in that chair." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "And how did he make his money?" "I was certainly surprised to find you there." stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such few hundred pounds.' "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "Precisely." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "At what time?" my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "I was mad--insane." have I gained?" known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "Could he throw no light?" the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who bird I ate is country bred." constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "No." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down respectable self." insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "I am sure." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as "One?" went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears Holmes' thin, eager face. the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be Leadenhall Street--and--" bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his neither fascinating nor artistic." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down My friend smiled. persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other following enigmatical notices: is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at down. flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I occupations.' he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to fasten all the windows?" or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall round with crates and massive boxes. foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that him and tried to hold him back. him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left the window, rose as we entered. "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud you give your casting vote to?" eat it." in a friendly supper." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was shoulder; "he's all right." "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "What can it mean?" I gasped. I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white