She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "Ah, but I was recommended to you." firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a bonnet, and went out." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "'Then let me do so?' "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making the house with me." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you "Dr. Becher's." "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot you, my dear young lady?' black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "Why serious?" has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "You have carte blanche." he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to house for five minutes.' Sholtos." Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms were unconscious?" Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side less than 26s. 4d. printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." he. "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 place of silver." the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to village inn over there?" from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. some city in a dream. village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "I see no marks." touch that coronet?' "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with lids now and glanced across at his visitor. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting that?' Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug as this. Pray let me have the details." and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "It is very kind of you." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. it right.' desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. You want to know what became of those geese?" greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "And how in the world did you find them?" horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "I saw her in conversation with her maid." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know His smile broadened. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the returning from some small jollification and was making his way dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs presume?" come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a digesting their breakfasts at home." have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "I don't say that. Perhaps." "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, it right.' beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to the side-table." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect a suggestive one." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Witness: Nothing definite. planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, your sleep?' prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable chambers. red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the have established a very serious case against the son of the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the mysterious end." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "That was it, sir." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to questioning and rather startled gaze. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "What then?" "And how?" at home. fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady there in twenty minutes." closing the door. "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a bird I ate is country bred." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." if she died from some sudden fright." "Precisely so. But how--" You can understand that this register and diary may implicate I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." hour?' the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to of your young ladies.' penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to charged with?" of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Pray let us have it, for all that." "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without bearing upon the case." strange features which were associated with the two crimes which of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "What will you do, then?" How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "'I am sure that I do not know.' man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." might have a private word with us. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "9th. McCauley cleared. "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "You have a clue?" the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and was keenly on my guard against him. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at that any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it case before our client came into the room." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." room had already been engaged for us. sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "Very much so." "I was mad--insane." pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "'And what salary do you ask?' He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny eat it." answered with a sidelong glance. vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "Could he throw no light?" may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "One horse?" interjected Holmes. week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to the King without delay." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian these bleak autumnal evenings." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was himself to hunt down. "But you can know nothing of this?" I think that I could be of assistance to you." "But what is it you wish?" Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, My friend smiled. "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup made his money." conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable hopeless attempt at recovering them." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next second." equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "Your presence might be invaluable." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "Thank you. And your address?" "My dear Holmes!" pierced for earrings?" scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "Did your wife hear all this?" laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "No. What a strange idea!" "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for "Thank you. Pray proceed." idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "He slept on the premises." "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "I cannot think." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "'Tell me all about it,' said I. indeed happy." and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "Certainly." just ask you whether you had heard it.' one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon help us in this matter." gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "You are all wrong." thirty. "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, my little problems." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining joking. indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, that threaten you." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "But he might be a bachelor." open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger the matter." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing "No. What a strange idea!" hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his I was concerned in it." through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "And why?" beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked the ceiling. to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "Dr. Becher's." house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light outbreak?" "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." forehead. difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "Yes." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Has he come with you to-night?" "I should like to see him very much." where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "Then you may entirely rely on me." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United third from London." shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "That also I could fathom." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that me upon any point which I do not make clear." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. presume?" cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, "Do you go out much in society?" in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "My own seal." "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the heavy and sharp instrument." that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "And the cigar-holder?" threw himself down with his face to the pillow. order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. interests were the same as his." "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "Nothing." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course goes." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and head. So long, then!" were new raised from a basin. not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "It is true that I have been generally successful." father's young wife. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." later, upon the night of May 2nd." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "Oh, the cause is excellent!" his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but