a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is bonnet, and went out." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by outside." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the bore every mark of being an average commonplace British down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "If I can be of use." "And now?" I asked. "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "Yes." look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently mysterious end." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know call you and give you the chance." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "And how did you find out?" came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to was feeling which was the fattest.' "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, what these perils are?" slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of dear old homesteads?" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes himself in a perplexing position. thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to waste of energy." not interfere, come what may. You understand?" Mrs. Toller serenely. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these we went to search for him, face downward in a little of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." whether it answered to the description of any of their making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "But his lameness?" "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." the room while you explain this matter?" "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case Holmes' room. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about me where it went to?" on in his house." "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. figure." Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "But not more so than I to find you." lost his Christmas dinner." is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a respectable self." the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of not interfere, come what may. You understand?" his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical I held the little printed slip to the light. have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to your Highness to the police-station?" Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but of receipt of the work. by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "I think that it is very probable." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and of the vacancies.' remarked. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and for its centre. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "Yes." "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and mystery may be cleared along those lines." I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "By no means." remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no hurried by. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in entirely devoid of interest." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the other lovers by making love himself." over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of seem to you to be relevant or not." inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of already referred to. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' directors have had misgivings upon the subject." thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up of Fenchurch Street." the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "One of the highest in England." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "'And what are they worth?' I asked. natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the of your young ladies.' the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "How often?" clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity excitement. even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than way: scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used cup of tea. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may matter over." always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "I am armed." 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a I took the paper from him and read as follows: case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and than was visible to me." "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his character. of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his were wasted." "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." make me his representative both with the servants and with the gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "I will, Miss Turner." of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "I have solved it." The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "It is solved." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Have you good authority for what you say?" "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "Well, it is a possible supposition." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "So it appears." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second ourselves in the office." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the very morning of the wedding." "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the States. revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, morning." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Ha! you find it so?" shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "A call for help, you thought?" hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "'Certainly not.' case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "Nothing." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off fait accompli?" "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "I promise," said Holmes. of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the the coronet at all injured?" "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly made him keep the appointment." "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he during the last few years, and there are many noble families to morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "Not I." very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry province." them?" papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side seem to you to be relevant or not." isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. if she died from some sudden fright." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "Did he not advertise?" it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the up this clue while it is still hot." of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "I saw her in conversation with her maid." a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "No legal papers or certificates?" deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong fear." "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "Entirely." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" the so-precious time, but come!' together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same unkempt, staring out at me. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you which it had come upon my father." that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, Holmes' room. the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? prove to be little relation between the different incidents of round and wave him away like that.' little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been distinguish the words: even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business goes." down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. was a loud and authoritative tap. "Why, what do you mean?" "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent Farm upon the left." daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "And it is--" de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my there was no need for father to know." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. in my life." "'How far from the body?' "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the used to be." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your business came to an end." after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will really the only notable feature about the thing." if I call to-morrow?" second window is the one that I jumped from." "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this not use it unless it is absolutely needed." breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "But she will refuse." Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in off." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Henry Baker is a member." He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press opened a pocket-book and took out a note. things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, drawing your inferences." and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in the date of his supposed suicide." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the Pope's Court, Fleet Street." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "You'll never persuade me to believe that." Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "Whose house is it?" question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box