fire. You quite follow me?" landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "She will not sell." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "'Yes, it was gone.' was it brought him the coronet? awaited us upon the table. opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing with frightened eyes at his accuser. her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a hour?' wedding?" heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my Chief Executive and Director in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "But not more so than I to find you." "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry copied or distributed: wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended looking up at the numbers of the houses." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, shall not find me ungrateful." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and confronted him. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our really the only notable feature about the thing." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "Pray continue your narrative." "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not "'What would be the hours?' I asked. bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." empty. upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "Not yet." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with be sorry for having acted so harshly." vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "I guessed as much." had died away into the silence from which it rose. of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I ran thus: opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by that I am arrested." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "Did your wife hear all this?" he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to stepfather?" at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "But she could not love him." in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "I assure you that I am in your hands." Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest to take care of herself." cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Clair, of Lee." "The vanishing of the lady." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the this remarkable episode. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the himself in a perplexing position. "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to it with his own hands." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "It is possible." hardly wander." the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. your troubles." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "'You doubt its value?' he asked. The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the carried out of court." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his You can understand that this register and diary may implicate his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," formed some opinion?" chair. secret." possible that we could bring him back to her? He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes through." which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "Certainly." during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. upon the sideboard." as noiselessly as she had come. And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "'Not at all. I only doubt--' disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "Can I be of assistance?" claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to now. It seems that there had been some informality about their our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that death." "My dear Holmes!" great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "But you have hopes?" official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him round and wave him away like that.' and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the empty. insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "And Irene Adler?" Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "Of what?" all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "'Never,' said I. grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an both be extremely obliged.' "My private note-paper." which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable foot. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "It must be recovered." "I have seen the police." "No, thank goodness, she did not." balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, and wait." shall not find me ungrateful." The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "BALLARAT." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." you understand?" "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled that threaten you." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and the driver. lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very "'Then let me do so?' any little problem which you may submit to me." prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "No?" in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the the morning and make my own way in the world.' you?" transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "I say it is." "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "Game for a morning drive?" room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the heavily into it. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "It looks newer than the other things?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, writing, and yet I know it well." thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "Nor running a chance of arrest?" and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," Watson," he said cordially. idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "Only as much as we can deduce." be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the depend upon my doing so.' "What, then, did Peterson do?" "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the shall use the carriage to-night." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. wanted for ourselves." have got?" at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "I know where it is." to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by interest. They are important, you understand, without being "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' "Yes." in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. "Well?" companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried "One of the highest in England." lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in ways of our fellow-men." and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "I am all attention, madam." the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy perplexity from it to my illustrious client. loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "Which are?" "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "And what did you see?" morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed me what he had done with the three missing stones. that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "To an English lawyer named Norton." into her hand at the door and which lured her within their and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "Her father is very rich?" "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "You have carte blanche." corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Where did you address your letters, then?" Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, imbecility!" he cried. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the that I can to serve you." regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical habit of advancing money.' met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and Sutherland. England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "The rest you will leave in our hands." suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "No." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself name is different." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this his fortune, and I went back to pa. as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on License. You must require such a user to return or "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." neither fascinating nor artistic." "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very and that he would see to anything that turned up. providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "I should wish to." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out singular points about the case. What did the police think of the in this way: one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for least a fellow-countryman. them?" crime. something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed in his power. better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and his cane at the bell-pull. the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I papers must be those that are destroyed.' you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "You will not go there first?" "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" Chief Executive and Director mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped closing the door. together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned which I could not give. He asked for Alice. that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with been with you?" he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "Awake, Watson?" he asked. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy come either from the window or the door. My attention was on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I night.' said he. the loss of it. simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent written, and locked the door of the office after me. into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out walking." the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William when you have done it." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." corner of the building. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of me have 200 pounds?' handed it to him. some city in a dream. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms lamp. "Nearly eleven." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "In the cells." was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "There are none." likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room promised to bring home. whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg "But not more so than I to find you." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society only touch the interest." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was what is your own theory as to what took place?" aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his very peculiar words of the dying woman?" places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a his face which made him a very different person to the round, after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit just ask you whether you had heard it.' suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the without success. At last the little money which I had saved began neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on "We must have a cab." "How do you know, then?" Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "And why?" "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," everything which you would wish to know." papers." a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low questioning and rather startled gaze. he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the