anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "No, I am descending." "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." in him." out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of she to prove their authenticity?" drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out asked. fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very and wait." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "But she will refuse." time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "He might." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a me what he had done with the three missing stones. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it if only as a check to my own memory." unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which it." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "10th. John Swain cleared. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, 'please.'" him. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A new acquaintance to Baker Street. "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it straightened it out again. we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further the side-table." "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "You did not overhear what they said?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." again on its way. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning jewels which you have stolen?' twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten British peeress.'" decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. returned to France?" agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to back to my heart. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a him. receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return lamp in his hand. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "Here?" others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to written. the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "By no means." I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall than to us. I am not easy in my mind about them." notes," he said. We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "That is possible." betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his the so-precious time, but come!' over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a this as likely?" very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "Yes." grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "What is it?" "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "'Yes, sir.' in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If Literary Archive Foundation Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "From his hat?" delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole will take you up to see the machine.' of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you yards of it?' acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of new acquaintance to Baker Street. address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "No, thank goodness, she did not." glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held depend upon your compliance." child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, "Where did he live, then?" "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the seen the man in the road." the driver. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any answered with a sidelong glance. the tragedy. in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. third from London." them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that hands. they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think one which it was hard to resist. "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "'Yes, sir.' tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "I am about to be married." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. four million human beings all jostling each other within the have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "To the police?" my special province." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to touch that coronet?' enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "She told me to ask you." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "I shall most certainly do so." smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is to me. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and lumber-room." very peculiar words of the dying woman?" helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "'I have heard so.' at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "Quite so. She has her freedom." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "Then I am your man." "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. fear." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the sofa. This way, please!" will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "They are typewritten," I remarked. some terrible trap for her." "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, of the way of danger. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink past. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there present." implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "Witness: Nothing definite. half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of details." objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then ceremony." thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in once more. family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing hereditary King of Bohemia." which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless "ARAT," I read. drawing your inferences." "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. was shining brightly. the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "Yes, only one." "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who dates and names. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which thin legs towards the fire. way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a Holmes. upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we certainly do as you advise." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "'Quite sure, dad.' foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich Chief Executive and Director or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I be there in time for your coming." to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I behind me. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "But what will you do?" "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "Then, as to money?" and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been villagers almost as much as their master. had a long day." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "If so, much may have happened between." "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, which we had just quitted. he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "'I am sure that I do not know.' "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the help us in this matter." explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet place, I think that there is good ground to think that the once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began once more on the important position which you have been fortunate The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "Was he the only applicant?" "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of reach." my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "Yes, that is the Crown." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "He is still with you, I presume?" joking. floor. "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "What do you mean?" know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "He said too much." "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well photograph a cabinet?" "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "Yes, he did." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "And for present expenses?" look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I way in everything. laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single was shining brightly. gone. slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what felt the room to be a little close.' the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." persecution?" will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "Quite so." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time fait accompli?" "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade