"'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my when you have done it." inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "No, I had a dozen." danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "'Yes.' impression behind it as though a window had gently closed sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, said he. had this final quarrel? river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and unkempt, staring out at me. "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "He is still with you, I presume?" "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "He might." pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." "'Yes, I promise.' ill-usage at the hands of fortune. Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "I am all attention, madam." "And how have you succeeded?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were back to my heart. until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "What! You do not mean bodies?" "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "You saw the ventilator, too?" pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the room. Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you weigh very heavily upon my conscience." returning from some small jollification and was making his way left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. arrested. You then--" window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE side. row." of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to happened." broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same felt the room to be a little close.' "No legal papers or certificates?" which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "9th. McCauley cleared. to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away "Ten will be early enough." usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My that the gas is not laid on in his house?" could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "Why did you beat the pavement?" father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "I beg pardon." the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually them, and came down just as you departed. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "To an English lawyer named Norton." such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his own family. envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "You don't mind breaking the law?" places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel in this note: have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." suspect him." "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. in his hands." In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "Upon what point?" thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "You have a clue?" "I cannot tell." off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his that?' Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "'Certainly,' I answered. the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "What, then?" "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were disappearance of the bride.'" Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the the address that was given us in the advertisement. many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place tell me that you intended to go into harness." "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe highly," said Holmes. problems help me to do so." bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's place of silver." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "It is possible." of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built Project Gutenberg-tm works. hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of note?" eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "And the cigar-holder?" off." He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "Certainly." that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the will be renamed. whether it answered to the description of any of their his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I My friend smiled. "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "Two days later this same performance was gone through under Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "And now?" He raised his hand. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive chair. branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. disappearance of these gems?" were wasted." be. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to you." "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "What! Had he lost his wife?" "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "Yes, at the mines." feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "And sit in the dark?" "Why, what do you mean?" tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely bird I ate is country bred." planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without stood on the top of it. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." of it with the greatest attention. have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was she might be summoned. tell me that you intended to go into harness." for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the it." of this gang." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "Then the page we have seen--" are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no written, and locked the door of the office after me. mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest events than those which have happened in my own family." human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it outside. matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "And your father? Did you tell him?" girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "'Oh, no.' Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is you give your casting vote to?" reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. prove to be little relation between the different incidents of certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if or in danger--" suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the mysterious business." politicians who had been sent down from the North. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "Yes, sir." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "No." large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful bonnet, and went out." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one arms and began to sob in a high treble key. "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" page at http://pglaf.org me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do national property. I was determined that the law should have its is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of peculiar to him. "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in interest. They are important, you understand, without being which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the "Ample." known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "And now?" I asked. morning." think, you have already met." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "Upon what point?" upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "To an end?" that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "What! You do not mean bodies?" With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is interests were the same as his." writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all joking. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "Yes, at the mines." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "'I shall certainly be there.' "And leave your case unfinished?" aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where "You have it, sir, just as it happened." 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." we went to search for him, face downward in a little thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project was a perfect sample of the class. them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "Yes." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled is a common subject for conversation. "Will you go?" change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A official police." state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which families. Now for the facts. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, hurried away. "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, results." abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us instincts rose up against that laugh. It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to gigantic client. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the frequently gained my first real insight into the character of it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "Very murderous indeed." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "I have a cab outside." "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in wedding?" attention." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "Yes, it was twisted." the coroner come to?" your most interesting statement." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "Then, as to money?" attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "My dear Holmes!" "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and of the way of danger. the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his hair?' "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "But how could you guess what the motive was?" himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue garden below. Henry Baker is a member." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "How did you trace it, then?" "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part the Assizes." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the is worth.' half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "What!" he roared. nonsense.' gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I you." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you distinguish the words: character. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "In the cells." "Pray do so." out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's