"But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "You forget that I know nothing about it." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, any." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke your troubles." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very against a man in the prime of life?" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "Certainly." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "Eh? What was that?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the particular state visit http://pglaf.org up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "He said that you could solve anything." that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and cost them two and thirty pounds." gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "'As governess?' I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "Not social, then?" seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "No sign of it?" "And why?" lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "He said that you could solve anything." wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with hand, madam?" penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "That you are never beaten." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. "No, finished." Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who Count Von Kramm." "My photograph." "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and public press." however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "Stolen, then." but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "What are they?" "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "That also I could fathom." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see here." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "In San Francisco, a year ago." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet McCarthy." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of to-night?" I asked. situation." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the works. which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time fashion which was peculiar to him. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the the room while you explain this matter?" cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all to change my dress. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "My Mary? Impossible!" Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my quite distinctive." "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "To an end?" "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet there has been an enclosure here!" ourselves in the office." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" writers could invent nothing more crude." my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the intimate personal affairs in this public manner." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "I am all attention, madam." eavesdroppers?' panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Entirely." And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked man. I know him from the photograph." For additional contact information: myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we little trying to do so much typewriting?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "I was mad--insane." "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. the so-precious time, but come!' and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "I don't believe it." perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, drawing your inferences." "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Not yet." with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and photograph a cabinet?" his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to with some details as to your case." "You were travelling in the States?" dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of and wait." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Never." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "'Ample.' on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing own family. tell me that you intended to go into harness." guilty one." Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "And your father? Did you tell him?" the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "Come in!" said Holmes. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "'No, I know no one in these parts.' was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him morning." subject to the trademark license, especially commercial Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small least a fellow-countryman. quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If breakfast." untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in there in twenty minutes." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." directly by questioning you." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "Well." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her tassel actually lying upon the pillow. derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no Lestrade of Scotland Yard." to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in swore that no one else had been in the front room during the pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds a little more before I quite committed myself. "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering any little problem which you may submit to me." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. to-night?" I asked. Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "I would give my fortune to have them back." Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This in the port of London." "That sounds a little paradoxical." "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." that I can to serve you." business in the City. She little knew what. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "Which are?" somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "The landlord of the Alpha." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an case before our client came into the room." were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't there has been an enclosure here!" "You think so, too?" "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up outbreak?" "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of legal crime." and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only during the last few years, and there are many noble families to bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, the driver. manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "He said that you could solve anything." to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in Project Gutenberg-tm works. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A never will be, entirely cleared up. in his hands." miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the forecastle of an emigrant ship. think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for one or two very singular points about this room. For example, there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is Holmes' room. remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "What have you to say now?" in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "Her father is very rich?" "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent depend upon your compliance." deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "Perfectly so." horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "Certainly." own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "What! Had he lost his wife?" the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the you do it in twenty minutes!' its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this the house with me." as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the cigars in the box." a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "You think that he is dead?" about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "Entirely." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "Not in the least." house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly Again Holmes raved in the air. round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called begun to whiten, even as mine has." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to good for you to do.' lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I said I. that "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "Witness: It was. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "Pray do so." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble be sorry for having acted so harshly." was feeling which was the fattest.' and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until some mystery and the punishment of some crime." mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "I shall be delighted."