"What! Had he lost his wife?" A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. exactly what you advise." silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very putting in the horse. enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you business?" "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are for and were ordered to this address. the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "I answered that I had not. and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man the matter." of the vacancies.' use an arc-and-compass breastpin." so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the possible that we could bring him back to her? case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. companion. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the outside. "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, society." grasp, he hurried from the room. have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you photograph a cabinet?" thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' one of the states of the Union." he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not brandy and water within his reach. sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." the window, rose as we entered. winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple so.' station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" followed. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "And why?" employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "You have it, sir, just as it happened." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I You want to know what became of those geese?" "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own on in his house." thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "And for present expenses?" wedding?" not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "I shall most certainly do so." the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." allusion to a rat. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "I have my revolver," said I. "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "Did your wife hear all this?" wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the away in different directions, and I went off to make my own husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the in your London, you will know that the office of the company is up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for the room while you explain this matter?" "My dear Holmes!" as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. that?' charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once right! Sit down and let us talk it over." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass But Holmes shook his head gravely. the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which "Then how many are there?" and the church but not where the lady lived." developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "And that is--" abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for for and were ordered to this address. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "I cannot think." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be eavesdroppers?' "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "And now?" I asked. tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we Literary Archive Foundation "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "This photograph!" disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch "'Most admirably.' heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at awkward doing business with an alias." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "You know me, then?" brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "But of what society?" in him." more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from wedding?" "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the that I may have something better before very many minutes are you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was burst out into a roar of laughter. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage Dr. Gregory B. Newby "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "But how will you look?" and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope hour." country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which you give your casting vote to?" "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he page at http://pglaf.org "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you key of the affair now." this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the gone. said he at last. outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "No, distinctly professional." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow lost nothing by them." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love weigh very heavily upon my conscience." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who which I could not give. He asked for Alice. thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some case before our client came into the room." "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting most interesting one." colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "How did that help you?" lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "That is possible." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my who was a member of your goose club." "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining "It is true that I have been generally successful." that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "That sounds a little paradoxical." been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change to tackle the facts." rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a companion. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "But you can know nothing of this?" himself to tell his story. you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist perplexity from it to my illustrious client. charged with?" it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a telegram would bring me down to your help." "What is it?" if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." that, and I came down." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a indeed which he could not unravel. "No, my brougham is waiting." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland his cane at the bell-pull. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a you came in." Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off hair?' and your relations to her." should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, to me. "Pray do so." difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from might have a private word with us. array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still tell him that I know him to be innocent." He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "Not him." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "Ample." most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "That also I could fathom." a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the ago." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "'Oh, no.' quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in thought that she would have been so carried away." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "That you are never beaten." "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with on in his house." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too to-night." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "Precisely so. But how--" boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his there has been an enclosure here!" what is your own theory as to what took place?" The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest done what I asked you, Jones?" with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a happened." "Nothing." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, drove away. a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was should be taken.' have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal most important business. It is probable that he will be away all day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in "That is easily got." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "What can you not understand?" have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his she might be summoned. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her there!' "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "But who is he?" asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "9th. McCauley cleared. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of too. enter into my head. or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "Then I am your man." to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat what is your own theory as to what took place?" would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of astonishment. Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered next day. however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, client, rising. judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." The summons was a brief and urgent one. 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. your bag." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Your French gold?" in him." "But she could not love him." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "My opinion is in no way altered." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "Quite so." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "What can you not understand?" having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "To an English lawyer named Norton." folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, of your young ladies.' with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to arrested. You then--" in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat awkward doing business with an alias." a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "Nor running a chance of arrest?" parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.