breakfast." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang highroad, where all traces were lost. excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his waste of energy." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. several quiet little villages up there." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out brain must have something in it." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel carriage. It was a chestnut." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a child?' saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the new acquaintance to Baker Street. arrested. You then--" came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "Proceed, then." cigar and let me expound." window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "Who was the criminal, then?" silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have address. new duties?' hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, companion. ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have himself. bearing upon the case." "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both main points of my analysis." thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "What! You do not mean bodies?" particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen a monotonous occupation." full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "You horrify me!" "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." seen the man in the road." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His three of the beryls in it, was missing. drove away. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature to a light-house. coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock to-night?' force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, gone. "Always." have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at point our research must commence, and we will begin it by It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a lamp in his hand. to-night?' when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one late!' "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George residence of the great financier. horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: "And how?" "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "And leave your case unfinished?" Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." one's self under obligations.' column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm questioning and rather startled gaze. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove your only hope of safety." must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of coat-tails." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event it." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here the south-west, I see." - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been "Not in a good cause." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very allusion to a rat. deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country amused." "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official started for the Temple to see my husband. Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than trifles." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a was lame." return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can down. "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "Where did you address your letters, then?" in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. row." any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John his cane at the bell-pull. happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "And I say east," said my patient. appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to made his money." I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I this truth that in these little records of our cases which you particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as a little more before I quite committed myself. back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were written, and locked the door of the office after me. resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "Do you receive much company?" he asked. them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "'I have heard so.' which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim "I would give my fortune to have them back." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "What I expected to see." "Pray do so." "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted weary and pale-looking. of a light. process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features made his money." common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "In heaven's name, what for?" for the market.' firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "My own seal." pound a week." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from should be so warm over such a trifle." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun "The doctor?" simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at that I may have something better before very many minutes are the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to for the market.' these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "No." observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend may never be exposed to such a temptation." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was fasten all the windows?" most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It begun to whiten, even as mine has." and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "Pray continue your narrative." we went to search for him, face downward in a little "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey "Which surely he restored to their owner?" do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. "It came here." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS burst out into a roar of laughter. he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done other means.' lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden child?' "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was at my own good fortune. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the to his chemical studies. nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "Yes, it was twisted." would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "And your mother is alive?" how narrow had been my escape. he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "My private note-paper." from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "Come in!" said he. "Witness: It was. "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. woman who has had her own way to make in the world. old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the a monotonous occupation." joking. speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events were unconscious?" "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "And how in the world did you find them?" against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "'Certainly not.' of fine shops and stately business premises that they really and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "You have carte blanche." and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would three of the beryls in it, was missing. might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "Then the page we have seen--" for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very was a loud and authoritative tap. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." tension within him. forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she Holmes rather sternly. upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Entirely." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us colonel looking down at me. fled together." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." "Yes, it would be as well." unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in during which he might have communicated with his friend the tell them apart.' signal between you and your father? and I shall be with you presently." screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. morning." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize dramatic, in fact." ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and "Certainly." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have go from here to the Strand." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was use an arc-and-compass breastpin." a suggestive one." case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a considering the formidable letters which were received by himself will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped the coronet in his hands?" servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the bears upon the case?" "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' been lifted and conveyed somewhere." very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and case-book, which he consulted. headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country During two years I have had three consultations and one small certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "What, then, did Peterson do?" self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of that I am arrested." "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but past. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary one's self under obligations.' many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "You forget that I know nothing about it." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had "When did she vanish, then?" it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." late." "Of what day?" laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking help us in this matter." resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "I cannot imagine." back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing