"'If you please, Miss Stoper.' conceal it?" "Why did you pick him?" upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "Her father is very rich?" she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "I am in hopes that she does." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in electronic works are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, dead, shall be safe with us." "If I can be of use." agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of of the efforts of the United States government and of the better America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to a very grave face. "Yes." tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still get the tickets." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was unprecedented a position." "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular your only hope of safety." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "One horse?" interjected Holmes. weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting of campaign. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you as he remarks, very much against the son." skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "I was mad--insane." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "Seven!" I answered. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the business." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest with some details as to your case." returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. depend upon your compliance." with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net other lovers by making love himself." butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for beyond words. fluttered off among the others. direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my it means?" Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said friend's singular character. "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate go--none." Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon know that the truth is known." of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible indeed which he could not unravel. of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "I cannot imagine." I leave." Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were chamber." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged point in the dark hollow of his hand. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white stammered. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, "No." inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been Have you good authority for what you say?" instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed been." Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all bears upon the case?" "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I questionable one." and the whole place is in a blaze." enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you photograph?" "No, but the enclosure is." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "It was a confession," I ejaculated. full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another rooms." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general society." 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the disappearance of the bride.'" said I. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "No sign of it?" comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly until night should bring an explanation. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. Mary, has deserted me." step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "I see many objections to any such theory." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "'Certainly not.' whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. assist you in forming an opinion." sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country you do it in twenty minutes!' tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "I have solved it." and your relations to her." where she found matters as described by the last witness. encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' him, that man would not have given me such complete information important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "Her father is very rich?" We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way mysterious end." which we had just quitted. still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, formed some opinion?" from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making mysterious end." beg that you will break it off." "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had call for protection in the marriage market, for the present golden eyeglasses. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." written, and locked the door of the office after me. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice back alive. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "What shall I do?" between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "No good news?" your bag." because she had spent so short a time in this country that she ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed "Was there a secret marriage?" "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in of his shoulders. "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "And Irene Adler?" besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir yards of it?' think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity simple cases which are so extremely difficult." were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "Thank you. Pray proceed." conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of your only hope of safety." could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a very old mansion. "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "Tired-looking or fresh?" To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the anything to do with the matter?" "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Never." fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for long narrative. "'What would be the hours?' I asked. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of fashion which was peculiar to him. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "I say that I have solved it." "No, distinctly professional." "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and "And how did he make his money?" Henry Baker is a member." ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. joking. "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for and it need not interfere very much with one's other "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited been able to understand it, in a very few words. I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them "May I see it?" "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no the station." I was concerned in it." to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a fatally injured? what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I wedding?" God! What an exposure! What can I do?" remarked. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be may never be exposed to such a temptation." When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly your Highness to the police-station?" was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "And what did you see?" the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "And you thought he was pulled back?" and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." room had already been engaged for us. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to presented more singular features than that which was associated tied." useful material for showing traces. The double line a little was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not relation between them, and what the object of his repeated upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his than to us. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to mystery may be cleared along those lines." "And what then?" "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "Has he come with you to-night?" have one." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. lumber-room." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "She will not sell." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to should be so warm over such a trifle." low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was touch that coronet?' it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "He said too much." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great me. You must get home instantly and act." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of orange pips. at a side door. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I character. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached you found me to-night--and running through the front room she perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other cigar and let me expound." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "Stolen, then." which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He you understand?" will not take me long to tell. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him you for a few hours?" anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. the bed, and you in that chair." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a Sholtos." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but will find little credit to be gained out of this case." distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is during that time.' its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a all that?" "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your questionable one." "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with