but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some have been better. It is all right." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the to-morrow." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the formed some opinion?" he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he the address that was given us in the advertisement. 1.E.9. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself grasp, he hurried from the room. will take you up to see the machine.' very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "My last client of the sort was a king." of this gang." flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "Oh, yes, easily." the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on Where does the thing come from?' you, my dear young lady?' three fields round his house, and there he would take his of note-paper. It read in this fashion: tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks said I. glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "It is half-past ten now." direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is at home. glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation should be taken.' the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "Yes." cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the shaken than I had ever seen him. stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, your Highness to the police-station?" cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "I was sure that I might rely on you." could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of recover the gem." "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My delighted to hear it," he said. A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, brought there to personate someone, and the real person is affair. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where straighten it?" "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him investigation." "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I his face. police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "None." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for distance from the station, and there we found the young lady here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. the Assizes." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." south, for the country is more deserted there." "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in and wait." "It missed him, then?" "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue his face. can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "Why? What do you mean?" "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper Serpentine Avenue. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the be best to do. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man than to us. "'Yes, it was gone.' crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for stepfather?" me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never absolutely follow my advice in every respect." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "Then I am your man." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "But how did you gain them?" his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission all?" "None. Neville wrote those words." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "I say it is." without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other your only hope of safety." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. Pool. transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon you." "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was detective. charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "The King of Scandinavia." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." one of them." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' overpowering excitement and concern. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "None. Neville wrote those words." "Which are?" Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. in one or two places in England?' yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as McCarthy." "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, that he has suffered." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town open." "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, and capable of preserving a secret.' course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "Is he quiet?" know all about it," he snarled. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." you want, then?' have accepted such a situation. the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "What do you mean?" hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who absorbing." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "I fear not." body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my and I shall be with you presently." Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "And what did you see?" take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the October 9, 1890. drawing your inferences." "Nearly eleven." "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "Whose house is it?" rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "You were travelling in the States?" either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the your billet.' rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the vault. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "Well, but China?" was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "But how?" 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and morning." "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "No, distinctly professional." already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that Farm upon the left." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but during which he might have communicated with his friend the "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, awkward doing business with an alias." superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking returned to France?" after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven photograph?" passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "'Most admirably.' contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" chambers. My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire distance from the station, and there we found the young lady pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon been anything against him. He had for years been known as a servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. and looked back. some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he down. him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "On Monday." is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm my little problems." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must existence." Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, wedding?" august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with awaited us upon the table. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, think that any burglar could have done. full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Nothing." best detective that ever lived. round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front to change my dress. quick march!" family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some all-comprehensive glances. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. matters immensely." But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I despair." the coronet in his hands?" "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "When did she vanish, then?" he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "Here?" hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been you found me to-night--and running through the front room she silent! Oh, he will be silent!' eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I you." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of behind me. "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its of." was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands the coronet in his hands?" probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as more terrible than the truth. come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled ourselves in the office." "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' my room." one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away trying to your nerves." you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that success. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the lips." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't before, for it was considerably after midnight. the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "You have the photograph?" you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "I beg pardon." which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "Yes." advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "And how did you verify them?" my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "When did she vanish, then?" unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." very morning of my second wedding." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when the matter?" and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to families. Now for the facts. Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with it." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me power." glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "But his left-handedness." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City Clair, of Lee." "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this fattened it expressly for you.' livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed