dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the discontent upon his features. homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' him to go away.' was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime intimate personal affairs in this public manner." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure yet." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a Holmes' room. back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his geese which you supplied to the Alpha." murdered man." for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some absorbing." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. jewels which you have stolen?' which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this be sorry for having acted so harshly." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from villagers almost as much as their master. "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be closing the door. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "I should be immensely obliged to you." furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from me where it went to?" in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon her also." "None." dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded purpose of examination. roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining "Pray do so." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small me where it went to?" constraint." ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "When did it break out?" Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to bird I ate is country bred." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I that I may have something better before very many minutes are "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "I cannot say that I have." "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the man. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying and the colonel ushered me in. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be coat-tails." in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened straighten it?" crackling voice. assist you in forming an opinion." really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "'And what salary do you ask?' "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "Certainly." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "You will not go there first?" The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' the tragedy. were wasted." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The should be so warm over such a trifle." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of the date of his supposed suicide." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love within hail.' "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. at a side door. was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it threw himself down with his face to the pillow. You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive asked. the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" man. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her whether it answered to the description of any of their possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in lips." pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore it? Did I buy the geese off you?" shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to just ask you whether you had heard it.' 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. success. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect the Red-headed League." to-night?" I asked. "That is unusual in a young girl." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set gone. have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might of note-paper. It read in this fashion: deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, "A call for help, you thought?" material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite get her out of the way." knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, that before taking the final step I should like to submit the I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught come either from the window or the door. My attention was "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional ventilator." a monotonous occupation." the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. from you?" down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "Not particularly." thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I acted in my house last night?" he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before villagers almost as much as their master. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony I was concerned in it." "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the train from Paddington which would bring you there at about "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards enough to aid us in our search." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "I shall be delighted." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." burst out into a roar of laughter. WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his call it cruel." simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "And I say east," said my patient. every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs will he say when he returns?" public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried least a fellow-countryman. "Come in!" said he. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "It is his hat." it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, business." dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a constraint." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it just ask you whether you had heard it.' "'Quite sure, dad.' Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary stammered. you." determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without there were one or two details which were new to me. But the halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of Dr. Gregory B. Newby But Holmes shook his head gravely. "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "Here?" "Which are?" American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock to tell." houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "And you can do nothing until then?" had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have breakfast." "Why? What do you mean?" devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "Dr. Becher's." he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "'Very good.' that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "'What then?' I asked. and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "And who is her maid?" however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is way in everything. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "Then, as to money?" reach." he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at your co-operation." outsides of the windows. my former friend and companion. assist you in forming an opinion." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from and it need not interfere very much with one's other Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "Yes?" It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly friend's singular character. of campaign. train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, official police." other, as fresh and trim as possible. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank really the only notable feature about the thing." pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "Yes, at the mines." Does that suggest anything?" "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "What office?" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a It may be so in this case, also." fuss that is made over them." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the may never be exposed to such a temptation." about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an present strange and interesting features that it is no easy room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," a little more before I quite committed myself. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get seen the man in the road." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." tell me that you intended to go into harness." know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in nothing of it?" was feeling which was the fattest.' hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "No." "And I say east," said my patient. original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some "Ten will be early enough." fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the there were one or two details which were new to me. But the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an stammered. The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle careless servant girl?" though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. once more to my work. happened." the running down." 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You seven miles from Eyford Station.' we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "He said that you could solve anything." advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able I shall communicate with you." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers nothing of it?" intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." him and tried to hold him back. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had it right.' lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her the Friday. Was it to be in church?" when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of should be so warm over such a trifle." "Yes, at the mines." helping a boy to put up the shutters. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that success. "But we can't all be." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." sooner or later she must fall a victim. to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case his face which made him a very different person to the round, horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "The best possible." paper in the air. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I Heh?' winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is individual and becomes the badge of a society." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug "Nothing?" not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." at my own good fortune. vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, without success. At last the little money which I had saved began salesman. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum with you alone." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of