Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a "The decline of his fortunes, then?" were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as train.' when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "I have come for advice." go--none." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a washing it down with a long draught of water. companion. I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of "And the cigar-holder?" along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "It's nothing of the kind." hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. passage and a tap at the door. the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might Mrs. Toller serenely. His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "Well, some hundreds of times." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "The landlord of the Alpha." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would the stones. of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and wall." with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." dear old homesteads?" iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his carried out of court." interests were the same as his." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, experiences." by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing pressing in one house as in another. success. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account at my own good fortune. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, there." this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. least a most suspicious remark." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling vault. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little against a man in the prime of life?" of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and highly," said Holmes. steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "Who was the criminal, then?" remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men "You did not overhear what they said?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." sake, don't!" air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "'Certainly not.' cigars in their mouths. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, as he remarks, very much against the son." "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." held up the lantern and gazed about him. reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at very peculiar words of the dying woman?" endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his away to you." many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that cigar and let me expound." It was close upon four before the door opened, and a and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather night.' said he. bonnet, and went out." have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking at my remark. explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a instituted." walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have the best of training." clang of the bell. Mary, has deserted me." are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "I am following you closely," I answered. of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the tightly behind him. waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced time." be there in time for your coming." tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "'Ten to two.' front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "My dear Holmes!" "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "How long did she speak to this Alice?" a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, colonel looking down at me. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & felt?" "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "Yes, certainly." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "And now?" I asked. arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "She showed me, as I told you she would." very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the furiously. "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "Ah!" "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. it means?" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were that there was nothing in it, after all." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair back into the street. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "My opinion is in no way altered." tear off another piece?' fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently long narrative. eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "'What would be the hours?' I asked. Holmes." very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when absolutely follow my advice in every respect." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook amused." to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Yes." passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he note?" to-night's adventure." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. "My photograph." the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This ordinary clothes on?" Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was I nodded again. America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. I leave." ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had and the whole place is in a blaze." entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor a suggestive one." I shall communicate with you." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward think you a quite exceptional woman." scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, matter." small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for this truth that in these little records of our cases which you yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the in a very precise fashion." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia companion quietly. swore that no one else had been in the front room during the against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally from you?" The summons was a brief and urgent one. where we are going." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Now, then, what's the last entry?" the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." Does that suggest anything?" that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do Eyford at 11:15.' Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to out of this horrible affair." by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, a few minutes he said that it would be all right. analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, my room." All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "Well." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" never will be, entirely cleared up. course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young works. sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I nothing with him." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that rat could hardly pass through." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "But not more so than I to find you." very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to as noiselessly as she had come. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "Your French gold?" "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and your troubles." At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "I guessed as much." As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "What will you do, then?" depend upon your compliance." step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly felt?" "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose house for five minutes.' the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would "I shall most certainly do so." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "Has he come with you to-night?" which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. lost his Christmas dinner." to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "I think that it is very probable." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I his eyes and forehead. coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, highroad, where all traces were lost. "I would pay ten." sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "I cannot imagine." but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "I know where it is." me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "It must be recovered." strange features which were associated with the two crimes which towards the blaze. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no dates and names. "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "Whose house is it?" of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that directly by questioning you." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "He might." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside read over the extraordinary announcement. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was Holmes' room. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for I took the paper from him and read as follows: backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Then, how do you know?" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "'You doubt its value?' he asked. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, locked. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and these bleak autumnal evenings." "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to 1.E.9. might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my your equipment. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "Breckinridge is his name." "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at events than those which have happened in my own family." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "And how did you verify them?" yourselves in at night?" cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's