question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was know all about it," he snarled. calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "I think that I had better go, Holmes." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "Yes." "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "Very truly yours, passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony arms and began to sob in a high treble key. We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right without success. At last the little money which I had saved began that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "And Irene Adler?" before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. lumber-room." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way hurried away. strength in the others." "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really stepfather?" keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and thought that she would have been so carried away." had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "But you can know nothing of this?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, shadow pass over his face as I spoke. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with paper in the air. "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. noble correspondent could be. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up Dr. Gregory B. Newby "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have conduct the inquiry." "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "What steps will you take?" I asked. too. what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "And who is her maid?" was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to his face which made him a very different person to the round, "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "Did you observe the colour?" confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with that, and I came down." erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "The knees of his trousers." "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a questionable one." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he results." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits with some details as to your case." late." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern records." into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the Munro.' thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it three of the beryls in it, was missing. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "I have come for advice." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "'Oh, no.' "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King companion. late." wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "What can it mean?" I gasped. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "I saw her in conversation with her maid." happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, during the last few years, and there are many noble families to my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "None." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by "Your sister is dead, then?" followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place fat-encircled eyes. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was one of the states of the Union." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. in the port of London." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes developed." great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their ready to-morrow?' the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the in my life." "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would "Have you her photograph?" and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "How many? I don't know." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "I think that it is very probable." extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents trying to your nerves." gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. as the one I chose?' lost his Christmas dinner." something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "That also I could fathom." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front been anything against him. He had for years been known as a down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "An enemy?" paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet friend's singular character. business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no guilty one." is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall Street--and--" upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' he bowed and left the room without another word. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had and looked back. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray Pope's Court. tell me that you intended to go into harness." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of upon the shelf for the interim." From what you have told me I think that it is possible that dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. writer." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George will be renamed. Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which second." "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away of a light. details should find their way into the papers. Inspector never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and cup of tea. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "Yes. He waved his hands." begun to whiten, even as mine has." something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of begun to whiten, even as mine has." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a row." have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "I guessed as much." o'clock is it?" "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really will be renamed. a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "I am all attention, madam." papers." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at helping a boy to put up the shutters. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it redistribution. hard-headed British jury." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling the south-west, I see." "You are all wrong." whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "Come in!" said he. come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "And did you observe any change in her then?" "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again which are rolled in Rotterdam." abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little crowd. Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "Did he not advertise?" exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "'Very good.' them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder astonishment. "Your sister is dead, then?" "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had certainly do as you advise." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. what is your own theory as to what took place?" them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this sake, don't!" in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "Yes." unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "'What, the red-headed man?' him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face writing, and yet I know it well." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "'Ten to two.' out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we quickly through a disagreeable task. "From his hat?" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming His smile broadened. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent page at http://pglaf.org "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "What of the rat, then?" and the church but not where the lady lived." round with crates and massive boxes. brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this like gravel from a pit.' "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. three fields round his house, and there he would take his "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and ran thus: "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself of your young ladies.' morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of lips." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done were unconscious?" "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry garden below. it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "No legal papers or certificates?" "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on me. http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "Then the page we have seen--" Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part into the bag, and made for the door. "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during be there in time for your coming." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." tell me that you intended to go into harness." "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should and I shall be with you presently." skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid other lovers by making love himself." miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our had this final quarrel? "She showed me, as I told you she would." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "We have tried and failed." "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, gone. bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "He is still with you, I presume?" to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which