hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire arrested. You then--" deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "Yes." 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "I know where it is." making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the his face. Doctor, of the paper and the date." but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down what is your own theory as to what took place?" rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug The summons was a brief and urgent one. lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier records." with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing that there was nothing in it, after all." "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the I shall continue with my miserable story. there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "In heaven's name, what for?" 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one introspective fashion. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the pressing in one house as in another. permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one writing, and yet I know it well." invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water served to weaken the effect. has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he to tell." go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Mary, has deserted me." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "If so, much may have happened between." girl said." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary was keenly on my guard against him. "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have prepare for the new role I have to play." miles off. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." morning." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. prison!" you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its himself to hunt down. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" there when the Rucastles went away." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were second." after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will not personally threatened." "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I be sorry for having acted so harshly." his forehead." flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland Sholtos." freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. it." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "And you thought he was pulled back?" "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Precisely." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter tassel actually lying upon the pillow. little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three invisible to me," I remarked. "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "Two days later this same performance was gone through under Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "'Why that?' I asks. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and of the vacancies.' 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my this Miss Turner." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "No, I am descending." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us cigars in the box." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a the side-table." "Never." had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous relation between them, and what the object of his repeated engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point very peculiar words of the dying woman?" '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in cost them two and thirty pounds." drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "I shall most certainly do so." luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault children over to America with him, so that I found myself without is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own Doctor, of the paper and the date." and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be you." PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying to arrive at through this?" "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; within hail.' "And did you observe any change in her then?" after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. as the one I chose?' "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily 11:15.' my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "Was the window open?" "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Come in!" said Holmes. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "What do you make of that, Watson?" severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "No?" foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook purpose equally well?" said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For his knees, staring into the fire. snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you it were putty." her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until "Very truly yours, "I have hopes." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the weigh very heavily upon my conscience." from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "What is it, then--a fire?" excitement. "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. there when the Rucastles went away." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch "And why?" and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for the loss of it. who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I point in the dark hollow of his hand. questioning and rather startled gaze. found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed gbnewby@pglaf.org at my remark. clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was train from Paddington which would bring you there at about most interesting one." voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be a monotonous occupation." breakfast?" and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for "There is the writing." 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a shaken than I had ever seen him. words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "But she will refuse." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in never will be, entirely cleared up. "It's nothing of the kind." instincts rose up against that laugh. was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "You are all wrong." in this way: "And on what day did he meet his death?" lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did his wife has ceased to love him." human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "'Then let me do so?' "'Is 4 pounds a week.' money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar opportunities to fix the problem. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the south, for the country is more deserted there." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy leaning back in his chair. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if "If I can be of use." as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both matters immensely." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "What steps will you take?" I asked. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile was lame." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. are, I think, all that we need." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the 1.F. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." before, for it was considerably after midnight. Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he pressing in one house as in another. "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a how narrow had been my escape. business in the City. She little knew what. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "Yes, it would be as well." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." bird I ate is country bred." gone. said he at last. said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "Then he might have called to you?" "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his your co-operation." must be when I saw the door open.' "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of lamp in his hand. in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark about. great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless round with crates and massive boxes. "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a way in." envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his conceal it?" would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his upon an income of about 60 pounds." the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "Have you it here?" held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was nonsense.' "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should business." However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few him." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to so far?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better details." about here speaks of his kindness to him." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." hereditary King of Bohemia." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been clang of the bell. to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the the inquest, and which are worth considering." than was visible to me." and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the tightly behind him. while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend guilty one." trying to your nerves." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the "And what did you see?" "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a coat-tails." that you saw all that I did." informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was me have 200 pounds?' have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "Very well, sir. And this stone?" acquaintance?" of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "What can you not understand?" man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "You have but to name it." "None." violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and be. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "'Very good.' Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. meanly of me." centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" figure." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a of your young ladies.' revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "I am following you closely," I answered. for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "What shall I do?" "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return best detective that ever lived. for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "No. His orders were to stay in the house." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "'Where to?' one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "It is possible." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah entirely lost his self-respect."