"In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used I nodded to show that I had heard. sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." wedding?" he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months was keenly on my guard against him. "I am following you closely," I answered. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which be. began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "Stolen, then." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and hard-headed British jury." must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little returning from some small jollification and was making his way his cane at the bell-pull. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "I came to find a friend." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "Tired-looking or fresh?" he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, there has been an enclosure here!" sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he what do you think they found in the pockets?" the morning and make my own way in the world.' purpose of examination. place of silver." upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "And sit in the dark?" corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this one of them." It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our good-night and bustled off upon her way. mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from Eyford at 11:15.' some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to thin, with a long, sharp nose?" in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and get the tickets." with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin death." relief. next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress careless servant girl?" against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed on re-entering her father's house?" "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway whether it answered to the description of any of their his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick my special province." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of she slowly sank and died without having recovered her the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "She showed me, as I told you she would." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered happened." and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would do." her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "No." "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "And you can do nothing until then?" unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people will find little credit to be gained out of this case." am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his photograph?" over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I gentleman's clothes. the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a will not take me long to tell. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, new acquaintance to Baker Street. "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "Precisely." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" companion imperturbably. "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the will he say when he returns?" have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able know that the truth is known." "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "But how did you gain them?" without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat back to my heart. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "I do." and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were will not take me long to tell. "That is it on the dressing-table." showing my impatience. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the the iron safe, which he closed upon it. Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "Deserted you?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his License. You must require such a user to return or which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, I was concerned in it." why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been upon a handsome competence. violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his future lives." should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the "And that is--" he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "What will you say?" Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of bears upon the case?" towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building mysterious business." of the way of danger. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and of this gang." power." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address against a man in the prime of life?" groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "It was an hour's good drive." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "Nearly eleven." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "Never." soul! here is her carriage at the door." description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his use an arc-and-compass breastpin." call you and give you the chance." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at go--none." business matters.' the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The what is your own theory as to what took place?" horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall but preventing her from injuring another. the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be a suggestive one." ready to-morrow?' music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of whereabouts. the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it not come at once?" there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," in darkness. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" cigar and let me expound." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of sparkled upon his finger. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "My stepfather's business papers." "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "Not yet." madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would business matters.' "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little empty. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was Lestrade of Scotland Yard." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use away into the river." it with his own hands." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the are windows in it, of course?" something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first during the last few years, and there are many noble families to squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the overpowering excitement and concern. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "At the wedding breakfast." idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating morning." however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "'You cannot say what it was?' while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to your co-operation." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no my secret was safe in his possession. The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "When did it break out?" he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "Game for a morning drive?" someone who had been in Australia." "The Cedars?" every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only strength." sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the disappearance of the bride.'" "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon suspect him." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my populous neighbourhood." light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "'Yes, sir.' occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept strength of mind to control. over his head with a sweet womanly caress. before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "We were both in the photograph." lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "What do you mean?" thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "Well." the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "Why, what do you mean?" "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single Watson," he said cordially. square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. where we are going." was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." and files of the old papers, following the future career of every to-night?' annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "That was it, sir." allusion to a rat. the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves maiden herself was most instructive." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon secret." Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "But what harm can there be in that?" fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the "No sign of it?" "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I sparkled upon his finger. "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in the so-precious time, but come!' the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography before the coroner and the police-court." "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who the armchair which I pushed forward for him. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "A thing like a cleaver," said he. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "I am to be neutral?" "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while bed dies. Does not that strike you?" voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "It certainly sounds feasible." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "I was sure that I might rely on you." daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "Not I." Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found laugh and put his lips to my ear. near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in