lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "Yes?" vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I had died away into the silence from which it rose. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." what I may call a really hard day's work." once more. "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me 'please.'" King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck instincts rose up against that laugh. think you a quite exceptional woman." He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who as he folded up the epistle. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "'What are you doing there?' he asked. happened." Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the that?' harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two sentimental considerations in the background which would induce the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an IS cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "What! Had he lost his wife?" grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "'Very good.' "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. to-night?' right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well "And what did you see?" Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "Never to return." Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for threw himself down with his face to the pillow. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally American. Then who could this American be, and why should he The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "I am to be neutral?" contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he train.' "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a laugh and put his lips to my ear. outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." "Yes, from Horsham." at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the during that time.' "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "I assure you that I am in your hands." "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my I took the paper from him and read as follows: "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "A thing like a cleaver," said he. civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "A call for help, you thought?" his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of presented which may be striking and bizarre without being fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your some place of shelter and let the county police know what has Henry Baker is a member." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain photograph?" ran thus: our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. served to weaken the effect. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to his cane at the bell-pull. took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just were new raised from a basin. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and when you have done it." first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the laugh and put his lips to my ear. to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to suspect him." if she died from some sudden fright." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." place, I think that there is good ground to think that the locked. so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't and laid it on the table. a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the one of them." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, whereabouts. "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion Holmes rather sternly. "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "I was sure that I might rely on you." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a DAMAGE. St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "No. What a strange idea!" "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "Do you know him?" It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the the bottom.' you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in bell. Holmes whistled. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new think that any burglar could have done. I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that colonel looking down at me. "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, within hail.' over here." glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "But the mystery?" pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." could go. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not should be taken.' squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "Perhaps I have." "Here?" were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the little opening for the ventilator is." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "From his hat?" Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic open." "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he been anything against him. He had for years been known as a him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. Have you good authority for what you say?" "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Then the page we have seen--" ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round daring than any effort of the imagination." excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad likely to be some crony of the landlady's." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, do.' "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and Project Gutenberg-tm works. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad any little problem which you may submit to me." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you guilty parties." "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon enough to aid us in our search." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of forecastle of an emigrant ship. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that not come at once?" took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, suddenly upon us." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better garden below. and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "Ten will be early enough." to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, Henry Baker is a member." days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had The summons was a brief and urgent one. "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "Always." acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. like gravel from a pit.' grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "The vanishing of the lady." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of the address that was given us in the advertisement. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. there was no need for father to know." buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "'Very good.' your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "And you can do nothing until then?" I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Will you bet, then?" at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it papers must be those that are destroyed.' years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly third from London." police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there Count Von Kramm." one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "You think that he is dead?" "But how?" dear old homesteads?" know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "Pray do so." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "Texas, I think." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can presented which may be striking and bizarre without being solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "'Stolen!' he cried. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "'Yes, sir.' "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody stood on the top of it. "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "Dirty?" congenial hunt. "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "But I am all in the dark." himself in a perplexing position. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the entirely lost his self-respect." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "Nothing?" after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward matter." "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, approach us with offers to donate. mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All "Oh, yes, easily." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor that threaten you." Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is that quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for disappearance of these gems?" for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "You have carte blanche." the night.' though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On some terrible trap for her." I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Yes." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps 'please.'" same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Pray tell us what has happened to you." secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "You don't mind breaking the law?" firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress in your London, you will know that the office of the company is the coronet at all injured?" newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction crackling voice. were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and that you wished to speak to me?' your Highness to the police-station?" just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "Absolutely none." Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles nothing of it?" tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" persecution?" room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw the tragedy. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" indeed which he could not unravel. It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "You have it, sir, just as it happened." distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of noble correspondent could be. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather events than those which have happened in my own family." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a chance at all." mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "The murder was done with it." Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--"