the Assizes." you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an considering the formidable letters which were received by himself the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade During two years I have had three consultations and one small serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during Arthur Conan Doyle correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. good for you to do.' before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying case-book, which he consulted. should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "Deserted you?" sentimental considerations in the background which would induce Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "And is that all?" on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I some mystery and the punishment of some crime." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "They are typewritten," I remarked. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "'A dozen yards or so.' your sleep?' characteristics, but those are the more obvious." of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "That was it, sir." access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "And you thought he was pulled back?" misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "Very truly yours, "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with certainly do as you advise." of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "So it appears." "What are they?" "It came here." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of wife's character?" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "Because he was handy and would come cheap." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Holmes, the busybody!" shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "You heard nothing yourself last night?" it." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "Perhaps we may make them less so." down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the from you?" "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "Oh, the cause is excellent!" American. Then who could this American be, and why should he strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." I think that I could be of assistance to you." This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall better in every way that they should make their position a little sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "The Coroner: What do you mean? "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to to-night's adventure." "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." "I cannot imagine." All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "I see no marks." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "The landlord of the Alpha." the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. "But what will you do?" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "Yes, sir." "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight into the bag, and made for the door. down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a Holmes." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "Thank you. And your address?" "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you with some details as to your case." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened know all about it," he snarled. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "Your French gold?" four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "And that is--" door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "In San Francisco, a year ago." more terrible than the truth. of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the to talk it over. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the only touch the interest." dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." triumphant cloud from his cigarette. business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "'What then?' I asked. have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Nothing?" against a man in the prime of life?" subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent my former friend and companion. was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "What steps will you take?" I asked. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on "Is he quiet?" I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, there were so many in the whole country as were brought together sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "Dirty?" interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof room had already been engaged for us. chance at all." the house with me." "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; have established a very serious case against the son of the The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, lost his Christmas dinner." "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "I would pay ten." bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have be.' and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events and inquire as to the address." "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left bed dies. Does not that strike you?" to talk it over. my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "Witness: I must still refuse. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his arrested. You then--" then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder side. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand that I may have something better before very many minutes are devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the constraint." WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her "How about poison?" question you as to those details which seem to me to be most where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Yes." "You saw the ventilator, too?" mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this friend's singular character. fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply notes," he said. "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a address. firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that mysterious end." and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few said I. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was recover the gem." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so me. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp British peeress.'" Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "That sounds a little paradoxical." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, front of the hall door has given its name to the place. characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it "Murdered?" the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are notes," he said. "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a leave you to your papers for a little." "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's gives a meaning to it." whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "'About the same.' all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "You think that he is dead?" have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of things are very often connected not with the larger but with the jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "Entirely." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all you understand?" "I was certainly surprised to find you there." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the examine." an introduction to him?" "Then you may be so with me." social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "Yes, sir." away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and your sleep?' "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, himself. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, "But he might be a bachelor." DISSOLVED. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "I will do it." "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "I have solved it." annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend developed." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest him, that man would not have given me such complete information "You saw the ventilator, too?" remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen never to learn it at all." begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "And you can do nothing until then?" "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the children over to America with him, so that I found myself without "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' shoulder. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See read over the extraordinary announcement. evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "In answer to an advertisement." breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of leaning back in his chair. client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "Why, what do you mean?" walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay in darkness. manager. appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope is a common subject for conversation. idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "'Very good.' Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small went to the Alpha were town bred." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his again." the little opening for the ventilator is." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "And you thought he was pulled back?" as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 maiden herself was most instructive." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "To ruin me." wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "Not I." on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as side. crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, geese which you supplied to the Alpha." well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, appointment with me for six o'clock?" photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "But she could not love him." tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "I promise," said Holmes. valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was his grey eyes. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old "To an English lawyer named Norton." well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the it? Did I buy the geese off you?" that I may have something better before very many minutes are must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to