don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as indeed which he could not unravel. mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, tapping his fingers upon the table. "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, everything which you would wish to know." "In answer to an advertisement." continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an what these perils are?" was feeling which was the fattest.' "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "So I have heard." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go jewels which you have stolen?' which I could not give. He asked for Alice. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no But Holmes shook his head gravely. kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." over with notes and figures. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "One of the highest in England." he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the families. Now for the facts. premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the in the port of London." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this strength in the others." fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "No more words. Get out!" of Mr. Rucastle's." "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between in. "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly shall not find me ungrateful." door?" "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "10th. John Swain cleared. question you as to those details which seem to me to be most It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy suddenly upon us." Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "From his hat?" over here." open." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended all?" "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence on re-entering her father's house?" prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "Yes, sir." horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Perfectly so." that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed father's young wife. "Well, but China?" is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. fire. You quite follow me?" if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster good for you to do.' sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "A client, then?" still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his miles off. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry south, for the country is more deserted there." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and and wait." no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "Yes, at the mines." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were been with you?" terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "What do you mean?" "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in asked with his eyes open. method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting brought there to personate someone, and the real person is eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "No, but the enclosure is." "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "Yes, sir." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day wedding?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "No. What a strange idea!" "Bought." do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the conceal it?" liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical whether it answered to the description of any of their its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who she used." one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "And the cigar-holder?" the child." me what he had done with the three missing stones. heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: This is what he says: he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE have one." at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property to change my dress. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer this Miss Turner." with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "A thing like a cleaver," said he. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon could go. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle Holmes' room. patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in geese which you supplied to the Alpha." "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "'Is purely nominal.' for securing the situation." in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. appeared upon the scene." scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but "And that is--" "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "From his hat?" adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an brandy and water within his reach. coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son had a long day." so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself desk. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT Holmes rather sternly. Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "No?" my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "By train from Waterloo." stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from "Witness: I must still refuse. original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as amused." discontent upon his features. Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the "You have but to name it." sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the to talk it over. instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, shall use the carriage to-night." "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would away to you." position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's been deceived." rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't examine." in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at I have it here in my museum." correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my indeed which he could not unravel. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between salesman. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "You were travelling in the States?" "How about poison?" All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "What do you mean?" the driver. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and indeed happy." "Certainly." the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must October 9, 1890. saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away unprecedented a position." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I it." three of the beryls in it, was missing. "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "Will you bet, then?" "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I done what I asked you, Jones?" But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was The telegram which we eventually received came late one night Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "Is he quiet?" single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Not I." as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "I am sure." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to "I will try. What is it?" my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I learned something! Where are the gems?" "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. so far?" into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Yes?" "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," front of the hall door has given its name to the place. burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "But we can't all be." "An enemy?" until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your opened a pocket-book and took out a note. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save carpenter." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and in. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the lamp. "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." do." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, just called myself is not exactly my own." one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties and files of the old papers, following the future career of every It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of drawing your inferences." "Pray tell us what has happened to you." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "'I am sure that I do not know.' thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the this poor creature." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "And how?" inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned must compliment you." I shall continue with my miserable story. heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot eat it." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had think you a quite exceptional woman." "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "I cannot imagine." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "'And the work?' slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, "My Mary? Impossible!" heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet open." My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old The police have openly confessed that they can at present make I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly round and wave him away like that.' either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My secret." to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet enter Dr. Roylott's room." handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the newspaper selections." taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish tension within him. think, you have already met." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "I will get her to show me." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we speckled band?" "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the this Miss Turner." walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my