ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to that you wished to speak to me?' "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what know what is wrong with it.' really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "And the murderer?" down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements said he. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, matter over." "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in that threaten you." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for again on its way. wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but to-night's adventure." reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered could go. way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss six. Come in!" accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "I will, Miss Turner." safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to had formerly been in part my own. "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "'Where to?' "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" entirely lost his self-respect." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said attention." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "'As governess?' "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be means taking possession of that which another person has a prior so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was or in danger--" now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "Yes." understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Then you may entirely rely on me." single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late His name is Francis Prosper." Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He least a fellow-countryman. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we overpowering excitement and concern. this as likely?" prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect chance at all." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as that before taking the final step I should like to submit the glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the in his hands." it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "None. Neville wrote those words." "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair call you and give you the chance." "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "I will try. What is it?" "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each "Well?" laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from new duties?' written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "I am to be neutral?" never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general do.' "And from a noble client?" my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." province." accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very Leadenhall Street--and--" "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." up this clue while it is still hot." touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in your co-operation." unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again formed some opinion?" appointment with me for six o'clock?" A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which like gravel from a pit.' the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, "And how have you succeeded?" here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the shoulder; "he's all right." remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for as noiselessly as she had come. the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded extraordinary contortions. that he has suffered." "Were they all fastened this morning?" the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "Just look it up, then." "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My and put his glass in his pocket. "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "By no means." "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since arrested. You then--" "Indeed! Whose, then?" step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange look upon these things in a different way." came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "Your sister is dead, then?" seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "Of Friday, June 19th." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to any more." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I It may be so in this case, also." black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "And I to find an enemy." return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote during which he might have communicated with his friend the some terrible trap for her." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never Arthur Conan Doyle John Swain, of St. Augustine. "Never to return." which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that thin, with a long, sharp nose?" at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both I shall communicate with you." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "By no means." hair?' push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "'Yes, I promise.' see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the pressing in one house as in another. to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the me what he had done with the three missing stones. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "What is it, then--a fire?" to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Certainly, madam." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "Yes, only one." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, noise which awoke you from your sleep?" 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the from the brougham. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "Pray do so." least a most suspicious remark." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "Married! When?" run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps shall use the carriage to-night." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Yes." to tell." Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate the morning and make my own way in the world.' whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those entirely lost his self-respect." "The gentleman I describe." forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would look dissatisfied." "Yesterday." thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" "'What, the red-headed man?' baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the events, Mr. Windibank!" "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a fasten all the windows?" into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he sound at heart." contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "You don't mind breaking the law?" animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "Did you become engaged then?" however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life his face which made him a very different person to the round, however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible and a shock of very red hair. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his suggested at once that there must be a communication between the beg that you will break it off." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic you?' honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds did not hear it also.' registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you have one." "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque married her." days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, what I may call a really hard day's work." forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet the best of training." "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "I have solved it." Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin directly by questioning you." here and I will read it to you: I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "Yes, certainly." than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave The summons was a brief and urgent one. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that papers on the sundial.'" and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we "None." "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were written, and locked the door of the office after me. "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double Countess of Morcar's?" thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me the address that was given us in the advertisement. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to "Indeed! Whose, then?" dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, all-comprehensive glances. a little more before I quite committed myself. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. good for you to do.' whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is within hail.' "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked that the gas is not laid on in his house?" which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "But you were on a friendly footing?" boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' straighten it?" out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a despaired of." one which it was hard to resist. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in national property. I was determined that the law should have its thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "And you thought he was pulled back?" bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "The best possible." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours there when the Rucastles went away." which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "Come in!" said Holmes. "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "Then how many are there?" the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man all that?" and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found held up the lantern and gazed about him. St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; Sutherland?" blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting whatever might befall. "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "And on what day did he meet his death?" sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a ago." envelope. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive awaited us upon the table. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands other means.' "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this three fields round his house, and there he would take his "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day "But it has twice been burgled." down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves points to suicide?" It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily