whatever might befall. to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a "Pray do so." "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was easy-going way." points to suicide?" remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow upon the shelf for the interim." Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me important." http://www.gutenberg.net battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I are, and they are waiting for us." served to weaken the effect. with you?" papers on the sundial.'" "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "She showed me, as I told you she would." back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "No." hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when heavy and sharp instrument." street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "Frequently." reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage figure." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon hair?' scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "I fear not." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "Only as much as we can deduce." and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. were wasted." have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "But how could you guess what the motive was?" morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as signal between you and your father? the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she place no limit on the sum I may draw." skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "Which are?" the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "It was." "He is still with you, I presume?" after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included my room." condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My might have a private word with us. Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not I think that I could be of assistance to you." "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the I. professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police for its centre. upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear think you a quite exceptional woman." "It's nothing of the kind." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is joking. "Could he throw no light?" have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "He said too much." while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who bears upon the case?" might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "'And the work?' "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had http://gutenberg.net/license). into the room. DAMAGE. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a "Dr. Becher's." Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though handed it to him. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "Of what day?" endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and of a light. "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I standing smiling on the door-step. of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "Where, then?" "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after gigantic client. fat-encircled eyes. which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "It is half-past ten now." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she in him." uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Yes." "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, through." "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed as yours." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first God! What an exposure! What can I do?" I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled observed. anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "Then I can wait in the next room." "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He London for the present?" determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for were unconscious?" problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of of receipt of the work. impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a the stable lane now." absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! I nodded to show that I had heard. of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and remarked. I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "'What would be the hours?' I asked. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them good for you to do.' answer." "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that photograph a cabinet?" particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It but preventing her from injuring another. cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was national property. I was determined that the law should have its upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "Nothing." "But his lameness?" occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their your most interesting statement." street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "If I can be of use." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "My dear Holmes!" entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of During two years I have had three consultations and one small deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. written, and locked the door of the office after me. "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat once more. not interfere, come what may. You understand?" absolutely follow my advice in every respect." and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to was shining brightly. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "He is still with you, I presume?" constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very corner of the building. "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have you?" prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." pierced for earrings?" "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" a few minutes he said that it would be all right. the one as in the other." days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled for and were ordered to this address. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man way in everything. it." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "It was." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "Pray be precise as to details," said he. the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing I. "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my danger is over." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice are, I think, all that we need." standing smiling on the door-step. that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "My opinion is in no way altered." said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. the coronet in his hands?" "Upon what point?" "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any families. Now for the facts. forehead. corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my manager. reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "But your client--" "Was there a secret marriage?" upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. character. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "Yes, I have one waiting." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer the loss of it. and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his forbidden door. "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "It surprised me." rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that weighed down with some great anxiety. would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but villagers almost as much as their master. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "We must have a cab." the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "But how could you guess what the motive was?" with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out papers diligently of late, have you not?" overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a straighten it?" least a fellow-countryman. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "We must have a cab." tail." there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three ventilator." me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "When did she vanish, then?" did not hear it also.' tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." following enigmatical notices: is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day yards of it?' at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "By all means." a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the of campaign. as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. murdered man." "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and Pope's Court. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "No, distinctly professional." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "'A dozen yards or so.' "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the four million human beings all jostling each other within the are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an light and attacked it." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague into the bag, and made for the door. "What of the rat, then?" therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar gone. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go might help us?" face and glided from the room. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did over part of the map. "What do you read?" narrative." brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The had no one to advise her at such a crisis." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, overpowering excitement and concern. enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have acquaintance?" and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." have I gained?" far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "Eh? What was that?" routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very the matter?" he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more away to you."