Dr. Gregory B. Newby out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "You have the photograph?" more terrible than the truth. "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I row." I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case down. him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is that there was nothing in it, after all." details should find their way into the papers. Inspector of this gang." certainly do as you advise." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was one which it was hard to resist. hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for this Miss Turner." with the outside air!" to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "No." connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused instincts rose up against that laugh. the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' was feeling which was the fattest.' belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at mystery may be cleared along those lines." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a tell him that I know him to be innocent." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. hopeless attempt at recovering them." will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with was keenly on my guard against him. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming and wait." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "In which, sir?" "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My jewels which you have stolen?' families. Now for the facts. I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." telegram would bring me down to your help." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "Married! When?" when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "Where did he live, then?" had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "What can it mean?" I gasped. "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here photograph?" had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "Nothing." "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "How did that help you?" over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in investigation." the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian did not hear it also.' right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well "You horrify me." what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax at my remark. theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old "And how in the world did you find them?" I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning not, dad?" she asked. where Mr. Fordham shows you.' "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her a little more before I quite committed myself. know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of II. Clair, of Lee." security.' wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. fear." to talk it over. narrative." "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "But who is he?" yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to horse could go." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive good-night and bustled off upon her way. the child." inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a see a sister of mine apply for." for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has fire. You quite follow me?" "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the in a friendly supper." "Murdered?" I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a "But your client--" almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "May I see it?" father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his papers diligently of late, have you not?" the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room your most interesting statement." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "And it is--" "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I respectable self." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "And is that all?" jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked been." Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my photograph a cabinet?" through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by was not a bird to be seen there. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right his grey eyes. Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "None." Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a could go. Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "Could he throw no light?" vanished into the darkness. "No, but the enclosure is." and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. in the hope of finding them." above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the and laid it on the table. "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the at a side door. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will brandy and water within his reach. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that hardly wander." the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked think, you have already met." how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Why did you beat the pavement?" my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "Murdered?" "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way them?" awaited us upon the table. left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are chair. "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "But how did you gain them?" "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush fishes. permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "Very murderous indeed." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would in one or two places in England?' the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "No." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was opened a pocket-book and took out a note. didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "You have compromised yourself seriously." "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your know all about it," he snarled. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "Yesterday." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds "Texas, I think." thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, late." "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the weapon." "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "What have you to say now?" their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "Of what day?" can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Yes." "'Yes, I promise.' "And now?" He raised his hand. closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy the Red-headed League." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "'There is a drive, then?' Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done murdered man." us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in matter over." here." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with Countess of Morcar's?" Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." and a shock of very red hair. "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of words came to my lips. the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of man. I know him from the photograph." developed." something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life him to be an active member of the medical profession." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up there!' "And is that all?" "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather is a common subject for conversation. "Then, how do you know?" "I have my revolver," said I. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been detective. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" suddenly upon us." you understand?" and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "Ah, but I was recommended to you." return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked is four-and-twenty." drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "Yes." Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as Surrey." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. weigh very heavily upon my conscience." we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I "You are hungry," I remarked. shoulder; "he's all right." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford experiences." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which rose-bushes. "Very truly yours, ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the you?' allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began might help us?" a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, whole matter to your consideration." find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "Witness: Nothing definite. "Imitated." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "What?" would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Stoke Moran." 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies