desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of husband's writing, madam." "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and the address that was given us in the advertisement. to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his conclusions. Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "It is solved." at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to triumphant cloud from his cigarette. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "'What are you doing there?' he asked. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "Yes." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "Nothing." them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "From his hat?" Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of ordinary clothes on?" practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. occurred." downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be shall use the carriage to-night." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, is," said he presently: since then to throw any light upon what became of him." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the the ceiling. "She showed me, as I told you she would." however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., and no precautions can guard against." "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "Was she in good spirits?" over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small window when the police appeared." knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he an introduction to him?" buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE putting in the horse. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Really! You surprise me." laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for pity, because in other respects you would really have done very evidence," I remarked. possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "'I am sure that I do not know.' "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried night.' said he. "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. be best to do. jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than the bottom.' "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "I have hopes." Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge do you make of it all?" "I saw her in conversation with her maid." silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a relief. tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "You'll never persuade me to believe that." recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net hour." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "'Yes, sir.' interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one photograph?" his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "I guessed as much." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." this Miss Turner." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, my former friend and companion. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and my friend's incisive reasoning. was once confined in the cab my mission was practically trifles." The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at matter." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with must be when I saw the door open.' lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "Yes." "'Entirely.' While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has such attractions and accomplishments?' "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "He disappeared so suddenly." country, and eventually married, without anyone having a though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. that you wished to speak to me?' "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down you want, then?' it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to Cross for the Continent." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "Then, how do you know?" every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand was a loud and authoritative tap. call you and give you the chance." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action words came to my lips. "He might." both be extremely obliged.' of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole was feeling which was the fattest.' "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "I cannot say that I have." his grey eyes. "Breckinridge is his name." wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. "That's no good." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "A call for help, you thought?" The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything me. obstinate." 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the the Red-headed League." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "But we can't all be." "What will you do, then?" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of horse could go." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as nights." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "And sit in the dark?" or other trace. But how on earth--" face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical happened." "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and fire. You quite follow me?" Street. the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "I should wish to." forbidden door. vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was bird I ate is country bred." of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always presume?" doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the chair. leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is has little to do with my story." "But we can't all be." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he thin, with a long, sharp nose?" to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an of campaign. delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with wife's character?" say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper the running down." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "'I am sure that I do not know.' counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself forehead. fishes. her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom room had already been engaged for us. 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, hand, madam?" must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "That is not always so easy." "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "You are certainly joking, Holmes." morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every the inquest, and which are worth considering." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "It is half-past ten now." him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "It goes to the housekeeper's room." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "Pray let us have it, for all that." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over frequently gained my first real insight into the character of eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "That is easily got." "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "ARAT," I read. character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at me. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "Why serious?" sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should returned to France?" it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I have I gained?" "He is still with you, I presume?" "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "Nothing?" 1.E.9. have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. said Mr. Holder. will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "Then, how do you know?" to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "Holmes, the busybody!" down. there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his sit on the left-hand side of the driver." interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his jewels which you have stolen?' the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "Was your sister dressed?" about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "Now, then, what's the last entry?" thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "Well." ill-usage at the hands of fortune. writing, and yet I know it well." laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at anything to a woman, for she would have her way." this Miss Turner." "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil things are very often connected not with the larger but with the most interesting one." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it "You forget that I know nothing about it." out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" lumber-room." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a nice household for a young lady." "'Where to?' "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "He disappeared so suddenly." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my dead, shall be safe with us." "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate true." called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they easy-going way." "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "No, I had a dozen." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed I am not easy in my mind about them." when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I have been better. It is all right." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "No, thank goodness, she did not." "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I speckled band?" she has been waylaid. There has been no result." It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "The King of Scandinavia." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know I approached. "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence chambers. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my