push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "The landlord of the Alpha." as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. the matter?" was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think sparkled upon his finger. certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to discontent upon his features. unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch "What will you say?" can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being was it brought him the coronet? started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "Why did you pick him?" the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle very peculiar words of the dying woman?" play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham upon the white wrist. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had *** START: FULL LICENSE *** finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice vague figure huddled up in the darkness. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted if I call to-morrow?" opportunities to fix the problem. still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece fait accompli?" he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "My dear Holmes!" "Certainly." emerged. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, your most interesting statement." remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of My friend smiled. in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug The note was undated, and without either signature or address. said I. pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "At half-wages, in fact." "Why did you beat the pavement?" girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "Come in!" said Holmes. main points of my analysis." the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they your bag." "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." the inner apartment." "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should it? Did I buy the geese off you?" Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable It may be so in this case, also." corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in British peeress.'" crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several point our research must commence, and we will begin it by sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me row." knowledge of the world." "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. to arrive at through this?" not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and fat-encircled eyes. had died away into the silence from which it rose. "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy posted to-day." go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "What is it, then--a fire?" to that open window." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that in a friendly supper." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "None." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two outside." have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal together. will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an of your young ladies.' street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" It was close upon four before the door opened, and a rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, been." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy relief. adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "Yes." him to go away.' The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you said I. Countess of Morcar's?" other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the advice." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, could gather together that I was able to avert another public but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "But she will refuse." stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "But you have hopes?" young Openshaw's." explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to hopeless attempt at recovering them." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting murdered man." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, the matter." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up "And your father? Did you tell him?" practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "Frequently." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof States. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly than was visible to me." reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, least a most suspicious remark." "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such might have a private word with us. chance." "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "Of Friday, June 19th." unkempt, staring out at me. horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite the station." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "I promise," said Holmes. "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence have been better. It is all right." charge against him will break down." I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "Did you observe the colour?" takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "And why?" danger is over." "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House call it cruel." leaning back in his chair. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be we went to search for him, face downward in a little foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not cheerful." travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "Certainly, madam." should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution bearing upon the case." writing, and yet I know it well." "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire second." until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "No, but the enclosure is." ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "You don't mind breaking the law?" "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring own family. passage and a tap at the door. "I cannot tell." precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A copied or distributed: stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "But it has twice been burgled." turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. neither fascinating nor artistic." Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return "Absolutely?" "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "What of the rat, then?" and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "What then?" master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake developed." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the brought there to personate someone, and the real person is My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something infinite languor in his face. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking at home. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Indeed! Whose, then?" suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which remarked. description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "A confidential servant?" bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to it." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this said he at last. gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main you, my dear young lady?' "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "On Monday." "I cannot think." business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose as he remarks, very much against the son." thought that she would have been so carried away." since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "Yes, he did." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the girl said." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would appeared upon the scene." will take you up to see the machine.' the coronet at all injured?" sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of there!' "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "I am all attention, madam." yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" to that open window." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "10th. John Swain cleared. rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "I am armed." "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "One of the highest in England." is so. I know all about McCarthy." relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "To an English lawyer named Norton." "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "Not particularly." will he say when he returns?" "Yes, the wine-cellar." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in Sholtos." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to may have an influence upon European history." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as whereabouts. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "It was." the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "On the contrary, this is the right side." "What is it?" he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "I have my revolver," said I. against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." do you make of it all?" Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk trying to your nerves." Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Well." his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms "'I am sure if I had known--' and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at records." better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the