brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "No." the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "It is his hat." "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up wedding?" of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "I shall most certainly do so." "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural his huge brown hands. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded things are very often connected not with the larger but with the received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so read over the extraordinary announcement. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away acted in my house last night?" stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "Here?" it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "'Ample.' but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "Yes, from Horsham." exactly what you advise." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City knowledge of the world." here." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I even so self-evident a thing as that." loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the cigars in the box." "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the relief. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "But what will you do?" Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight Holmes. they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that I. "The knees of his trousers." one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was question you as to those details which seem to me to be most handed it to him. plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "And how in the world did you find them?" them?" Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a tell them apart.' case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "Witness: Nothing definite. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood this poor creature." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by business in the City. She little knew what. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my yet." Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our the stones. woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, the coroner come to?" "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been depend upon my doing so.' conduct the inquiry." collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I not use it unless it is absolutely needed." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his his eyes and forehead. ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises your most interesting statement." in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "Never." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "Your French gold?" it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one already referred to. ourselves in the office." page at http://pglaf.org Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was sentimental considerations in the background which would induce little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, emerged. against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily if she died from some sudden fright." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said shadow pass over his face as I spoke. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "'A dozen yards or so.' "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the the nursery. "'Where could I find him?' Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about purpose equally well?" "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have maiden herself was most instructive." believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "Come in!" said Holmes. round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was me have 200 pounds?' "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "I fear not." "About a month then." by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To there!' typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation Edgeware Road. was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came papers." go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely page at http://pglaf.org impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon Leave Paddington by the 11:15." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all bled considerably." They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no long narrative. shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing his grey eyes. foot. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. as the one I chose?' "You think so, too?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which shall not find me ungrateful." "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "You will not go there first?" bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "And how have you succeeded?" which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and over with notes and figures. coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "And from a noble client?" Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party will not take me long to tell. caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "Why, it's a dummy," said he. upon an income of about 60 pounds." The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "You horrify me!" opportunities to fix the problem. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from begin with, and I had not got mine yet." hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles depend upon your compliance." with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of as this. Pray let me have the details." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "In the cells." have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not annoyance, but no jest. outsides of the windows. entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "Can I be of assistance?" "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that said I. Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, Farm upon the left." "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you been anything against him. He had for years been known as a his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa in. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "You'll never persuade me to believe that." handed it to him. been deceived." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was be best to do. are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and dear old homesteads?" interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "It is no ordinary one." to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "'Certainly not. But why?' and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the at my remark. "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "Ten will be early enough." "Yes, at the mines." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He asked. demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had leaning back in his chair. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a business?" up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from criminal. We have already had experience of such." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late his face which made him a very different person to the round, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he way: garden below. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a chance at all." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his John Swain, of St. Augustine. would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small quickly through a disagreeable task. "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall papers diligently of late, have you not?" police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is to go into your room and bar your shutters?" "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good Leave Paddington by the 11:15." open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to it. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. attention." back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "VIOLET HUNTER." He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his Eyford at 11:15.' "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "Nothing." frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to mystery!" "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. wedding?" Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been could not account in any way for the presence of the missing turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by some water from a caraffe. effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "There is the writing." shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "But I have heard all that you have heard." we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly Street. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to straightened it out again. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "Will you bet, then?" derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of coat-tails." There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a dates and names. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick together. shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "Game for a morning drive?" trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" foot. you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "Yes, at the mines." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "No." footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "Entirely." 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." future lives." inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "No, thank goodness, she did not." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "We have tried and failed." tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "No legal papers or certificates?" "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should copied or distributed: upon the sideboard." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in him. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "We must have a cab." slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case which are rolled in Rotterdam." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the