right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight detained." permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, to me. walking." grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. bearing upon the case." "Then how many are there?" as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "Thank you. Pray proceed." but preventing her from injuring another. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very Pool. balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote this remarkable episode. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the Eyford at 11:15.' these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his were wasted." "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What habit of advancing money.' mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' night.' said he. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this all?" conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no *** START: FULL LICENSE *** "You heard nothing yourself last night?" until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "I don't say that. Perhaps." here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a third from London." once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers voice. joking. sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men that he will be back before evening." middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the what I may call a really hard day's work." light and attacked it." was once confined in the cab my mission was practically send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came Stoke Moran." "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "Yes, he did." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just fluttered off among the others. on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "Yes." feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary I am not easy in my mind about them." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "'Most admirably.' right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon what I may call a really hard day's work." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "Holmes, the busybody!" after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, learned something! Where are the gems?" girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it "What, then, did Peterson do?" girl said." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "Who by?" you understand?" to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "And how did he make his money?" is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to true." weighed down with some great anxiety. "VIOLET HUNTER." make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and wedding?" your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a http://www.gutenberg.net could gather together that I was able to avert another public "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "That was it, sir." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "What do you make of that, Watson?" I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "My last client of the sort was a king." sooner or later she must fall a victim. "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face and glanced through. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure long narrative. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they be sorry for having acted so harshly." I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would for and were ordered to this address. "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the "I have seen the police." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father time." three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside likely to be some crony of the landlady's." Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the Sutherland?" compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his could gather together that I was able to avert another public "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent rose-bushes. which I could not give. He asked for Alice. Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither silent! Oh, he will be silent!' of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "'There is a drive, then?' 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the his knees, staring into the fire. they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and have accepted such a situation. "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, once more. in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "And I to find an enemy." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. "A call for help, you thought?" he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late tail." "Yes, only one." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid and a shock of very red hair. "'Which dealer's?' "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "I see no marks." "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "A client, then?" stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you all?" The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated might help us?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "It was." gone before you can get him to hospital." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "None. Neville wrote those words." "To an English lawyer named Norton." disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I useful material for showing traces. The double line a little Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is details." eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. over here." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. closely." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "But the mystery?" in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite question you as to those details which seem to me to be most It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn morning." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "'Ten to two.' a good hundred miles off by now." glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It to a more successful conclusion." he. round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "I cannot think." and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' and the whole place is in a blaze." shall not find me ungrateful." "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the strode off upon his way. remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "'Certainly not.' business in the City. She little knew what. "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Of what day?" electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "And Irene Adler?" give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your together. of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before joking. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old murdered man." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of "I promise," said Holmes. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "By no means." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "I will do it." upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in you." went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." he. tension within him. future lives." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which go--none." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "This photograph!" plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my brought there to personate someone, and the real person is "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing the best of training." Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "Who by?" ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY would then never go into court at all." straighten it?" The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "It came here." importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think nights." has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "Really! You surprise me." secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without she used." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key call for protection in the marriage market, for the present Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and good-night and bustled off upon her way. Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "In answer to an advertisement." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give an introduction to him?" matters immensely." I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic to talk it over. to arrive at through this?" "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "And on what day did he meet his death?" outsides of the windows. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to distance from the station, and there we found the young lady the south-west, I see." assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and "What then?" I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am some mystery and the punishment of some crime." Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "When did she vanish, then?" fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "From his hat?" her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another recall any case within my experience which looked at the first bill, which interests me deeply." week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "My own seal." "Why did you pick him?" about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "My dear Holmes!" made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the here and I will read it to you: dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all the station." looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry