"Entirely." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter weary and pale-looking. have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save kindly on the shoulder. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "And sit in the dark?" had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain furiously. accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "'How far from the body?' my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "Yes." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we bachelor.' she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "And what did you learn from him?" brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "How many? I don't know." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, other lovers by making love himself." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my evidence," I remarked. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "Then I am your man." evidence," I remarked. his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself The note was undated, and without either signature or address. reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "I don't believe it." pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "I came to find a friend." "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, Sholtos." and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the that, and I came down." eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "Yes, he did." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project may have an influence upon European history." Chief Executive and Director possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the my friend's incisive reasoning. "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Well?" make me his representative both with the servants and with the follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and the stones. Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "I never have." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "Certainly." heavily into it. "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. furiously. "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a hurried by. "Was she in good spirits?" should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of away to you." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured read over the extraordinary announcement. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "'Oh, no.' been." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which to-morrow." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to through." supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day and glanced through. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm despair." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the ourselves in the office." "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was undoubtedly my uncle's." electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "I have hopes." "But you have hopes?" matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To was already answered. page at http://pglaf.org it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on me where it went to?" weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' introspective fashion. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "Won't it ring?" "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "'As governess?' miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy away into the river." red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Well, but China?" Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The appeal." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates again on its way. regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. see me here to avoid scandal." beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "Not in a good cause." sound at heart." "I came to find a friend." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor posted to-day." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "I am all attention, madam." man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is spare." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried weighed down with some great anxiety. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and which it had come upon my father." disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly in one or two places in England?' "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "Then I shall certainly come." my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "Why serious?" "And I say east," said my patient. "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple of the efforts of the United States government and of the better knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have him to go away.' A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a within hail.' and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. III. window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "Yes?" and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly laugh and put his lips to my ear. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their your own bird, so if you wish--" play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' one of them." space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "That's no good." "Then I do not see the point." to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had interested in these little problems, and since you are good half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "I will get her to show me." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other a very grave face. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be used to be." "No, I think that I'll take it." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "The gentleman I describe." "And how did he make his money?" and that he would see to anything that turned up. it." "I have a cab outside." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He outbreak?" matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "Nothing." Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought directors have had misgivings upon the subject." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it knowledge of the world." derbies." "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the legal crime." "What is it, then--a fire?" had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the chance at all." "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure becomes even more simple." the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that over with notes and figures. "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the been with you?" of Fenchurch Street." you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. system of imprisonment?" stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular will find little credit to be gained out of this case." mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her fattened it expressly for you.' matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal was once confined in the cab my mission was practically Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an test if we have an answer to our advertisement." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be which we had just quitted. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "'I have heard so.' fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will upon a handsome competence. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose awaited us upon the table. January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the if she died from some sudden fright." recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "The murder was done with it." "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "I say it is." "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them to some other building. "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her fattened it expressly for you.' going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "And you thought he was pulled back?" case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could least a fellow-countryman. scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home will he say when he returns?" "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. I shall communicate with you." "And the murderer?" willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "You have a clue?" easy-going way." caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; You can understand that this register and diary may implicate compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out only touch the interest." its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Deserted you?" Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. during that time.' "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now congratulate you again." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My gentleman's clothes. "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such