"'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "No. What a strange idea!" sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your conduct the inquiry." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, like gravel from a pit.' hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." brain must have something in it." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Dr. Becher's." the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a to Leatherhead. sparkled upon his finger. '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "Yes, all." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I fashion which was peculiar to him. "'Ample.' little adventures." have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I geese which you supplied to the Alpha." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been have been better. It is all right." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" and the church but not where the lady lived." in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, of this gang." "It is no ordinary one." "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be some water from a caraffe. Holmes' room. "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by there were one or two details which were new to me. But the of the one which your family is now devouring." "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Yes, that is the Crown." father's place of business?" age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." you." and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "No, but the enclosure is." pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "Because he was handy and would come cheap." "May I see it?" and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you "Entirely." "The doctor?" set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a without success. At last the little money which I had saved began strode off upon his way. with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. name is different." "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step points to suicide?" it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, tail." "No, I had a dozen." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet frequently gained my first real insight into the character of papers diligently of late, have you not?" set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the "Quite so." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in there is a decided draught." "About a month then." strength." to take care of herself." "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." never to learn it at all." opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "One?" utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for light and attacked it." "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "No." of the vacancies.' "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "The Cedars?" Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "Was he the only applicant?" to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "No bad?" fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would morning." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and go from here to the Strand." a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "It surprised me." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Surrey." which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes his face which made him a very different person to the round, of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "None." confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had there were so many in the whole country as were brought together and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second beyond words. beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was the running down." knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to article?" last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day forebodings. "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. off." suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then down from London to inquire more deeply into it." Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and room. business at Coburg Square is serious." and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen little trying to do so much typewriting?" gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my yourselves in at night?" "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "No bad?" "So I heard. You have him here?" "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some wedding?" you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is evidence," I remarked. his grey eyes. once more. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' the very letters. But what is this written above them?' seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a Clair, of Lee." so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "My private note-paper." in the hope of finding them." no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' not fit the lock." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "No." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the four million human beings all jostling each other within the breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled open." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm the bottom.' himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I system of imprisonment?" and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "Yes, there are nearly always some there." submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "'Very good.' silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set corner of the building. it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project it." thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "I would give my fortune to have them back." "It is half-past ten now." Eyford." "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside to-night?" I asked. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. tension within him. floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a this man was intellectual?" Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and "Never to return." you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs Eyford at 11:15.' "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Then what has happened to him?" "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. was used.' and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and mystery." the ceiling. away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "'And the work?' formed some opinion?" least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the quick march!" deduce something from that?" like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change knowledge of the world." the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for This is what he says: away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "My photograph." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can Doctor, of the paper and the date." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." Literary Archive Foundation "So I am. Very much so." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. an introduction to him?" "Do you know him?" "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until would apply.' "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." me upon any point which I do not make clear." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those with frightened eyes at his accuser. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." his eyes and forehead. again." Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had beg that you will break it off." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "My dear Holmes!" creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly it." "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried this remarkable episode. which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for correct than the official force." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever Clair, of Lee." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed point in the dark hollow of his hand. unprecedented a position." better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at the loss of it. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one empty. maid will bring up your coffee." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "I will, Miss Turner." expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper trying to your nerves." are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "'Certainly,' I answered. the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed that you wished to speak to me?' hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much could not have written that. It is the German who is so "And the murderer?" against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted "Well, but China?" Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification Young McCarthy must be got off, however." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was locked." "I am armed." "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to 'please.'" King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting dead, shall be safe with us." remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the You can understand that this register and diary may implicate instincts rose up against that laugh. explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "Breckinridge is his name." "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. washing it down with a long draught of water. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the and glanced through. fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the returning from some small jollification and was making his way My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in to miss it." Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the be there in time for your coming." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "That is also quite modern," said the lady. observed. master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.