"I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up legal crime." His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" extraordinary contortions. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser cause to be." "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "And what did you see?" probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the behind me. the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built "You have it, sir, just as it happened." fait accompli?" villagers almost as much as their master. direction." of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence in the port of London." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. matter." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a my secret was safe in his possession. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin purpose of examination. unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." galvanised. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "Not him." have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, it were putty." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "Witness: It was. place no limit on the sum I may draw." "Was he the only applicant?" "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but "Could he throw no light?" "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "But your client--" unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good certainly do as you advise." "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who wedding?" base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the chance." sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Whose house is it?" little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "No." front of me. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "'Where could I find him?' it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "One of his hands." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The You want to know what became of those geese?" it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this is," said he presently: morning." foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. any more." evidence," I remarked. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "You have a clue?" my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy quickly through a disagreeable task. waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her always that they were such commands as a lady might with that I am arrested." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." have established a very serious case against the son of the didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "By train from Waterloo." through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with bird I ate is country bred." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the "Yes." I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation "I do." "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite records." mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns and the colonel ushered me in. Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for as this. Pray let me have the details." "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "What have you done?" asked Holmes. black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated Edgeware Road. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given have accepted such a situation. in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through photograph a cabinet?" awkward doing business with an alias." came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is outbreak?" in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable yet." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "No, I think that I'll take it." "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Really! You surprise me." "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in was already answered. "Yes, from Horsham." "Well, it is a possible supposition." had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the in my life." received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his Farm upon the left." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "To an English lawyer named Norton." and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as me, and I could not think that his explanation of the had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I even so self-evident a thing as that." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting works. fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "That was it, sir." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "Breckinridge is his name." heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any fact, we may call it conclusive." and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled Chief Executive and Director and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Pray continue your narrative." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to chance." "Tired-looking or fresh?" credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not read it out to me." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be be.' promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so present strange and interesting features that it is no easy hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "But it has twice been burgled." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "If I can be of use." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to colour had been driven from his face. interests were the same as his." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He all-comprehensive glances. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "My stepfather's business papers." my secret was safe in his possession. "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "My stepfather's business papers." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and do you make of it all?" have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and again on its way. in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in along the entire front of the house, with three long windows bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" the very morning of the wedding." home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "That is it on the dressing-table." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "But how did you gain them?" the Red-headed League." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a in this way: "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate conduct the inquiry." mystery!" man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "What then?" are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down said he. very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he Watson," he said cordially. "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" to his chemical studies. which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all security.' I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "In the cells." with her." pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "The doctor?" Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round Does that suggest anything?" retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the ventilator." work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. the Friday. Was it to be in church?" he died? am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper "'What would be the hours?' I asked. old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "Upon what point?" "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored infinite languor in his face. there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very cigar and let me expound." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. these bleak autumnal evenings." "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I the date of his supposed suicide." were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "Well." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "And now?" He raised his hand. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he this man was intellectual?" I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. Eyford at 11:15.' have not had my rubber." week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady was not a bird to be seen there. "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I arrested. You then--" be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate breakfast?" which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "That's no good." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "But of what society?" as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "The murder was done with it." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I which are rolled in Rotterdam." when you have done it." something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." been anything against him. He had for years been known as a education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't I nodded to show that I had heard. such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the affair. clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened if I call to-morrow?" "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "How often?" never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "No, but the enclosure is." present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He the very letters. But what is this written above them?' insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has noise which awoke you from your sleep?" some water from a caraffe. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had obstinate." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking have got?" "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "The rest you will leave in our hands." "I cannot tell." "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "And how did you verify them?" Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards John Swain, of St. Augustine. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It that before taking the final step I should like to submit the will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." believe that I should never have any practice at all. ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect of." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his room?" ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their This is what he says: perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "I will try. What is it?" summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the "Which are?" in a friendly supper." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just as noiselessly as she had come. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of 'please.'" over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low place of silver." glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR me upon any point which I do not make clear." "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love taking in every detail of the apartment. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as call for it in person on Monday morning.' Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of wedding?" "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. paper in the air. explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "Ah!" and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have