"Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must recover the gem." my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" carriage. It was a chestnut." End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "And Miss Sutherland?" overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked never will be, entirely cleared up. singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled again, where I was soon asleep. evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for words came to my lips. collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "You have carte blanche." grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "I am sure." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, just called myself is not exactly my own." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "'Quite sure, dad.' "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "We must have a cab." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I there were one or two details which were new to me. But the he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "She showed me, as I told you she would." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." you give your casting vote to?" just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "Only as much as we can deduce." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" Street. overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "I should be immensely obliged to you." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose said I. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "What will you do, then?" father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "'It is locked up,' I answered. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon at my remark. master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I open." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "No. What a strange idea!" "Nothing." October 9, 1890. Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said the side-table." common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this society." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. as the one I chose?' in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big photograph a cabinet?" foresight and the moral retrogression?" goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project thin, with a long, sharp nose?" behind me. at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "But how?" young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of waste of energy." Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "Entirely." Doctor, of the paper and the date." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was of the way of danger. prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "But she will refuse." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the Pope's Court. "Pray do so." been." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that have accepted such a situation. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was indiscretion." the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the this poor creature." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "Yes, he did." "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "Pray continue your narrative." present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with habit of advancing money.' that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace tightly behind him. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds to tell." you." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are instituted." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that me, and I could not think that his explanation of the would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "I would give my fortune to have them back." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as minor matters until to-morrow." at a side door. "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, sound at heart." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** works. drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, go--none." once more. one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his this remarkable episode. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since since then to throw any light upon what became of him." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey "I cannot think." "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. which our visitor detailed to us. vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, visitors." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the until night should bring an explanation. have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not with the outside air!" and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst there in twenty minutes." Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "Pray continue your narrative." "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have woven round him. at a side door. something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "No more words. Get out!" day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "Deserted you?" of the way of danger. little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the enough to aid us in our search." with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some pound a week." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice photograph a cabinet?" there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of 'I should be able to look after that for you.' chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I case-book, which he consulted. knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "VIOLET HUNTER." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "What do you mean?" heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal a very grave face. Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "My stepfather's business papers." "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "Certainly, madam." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the strong and stiff." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "'I am sure that I do not know.' France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." bonnet, and went out." and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "No." your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "Why serious?" Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "By no means." met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner The King stared at him in amazement. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "But I have heard all that you have heard." tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one nothing with him." ways including including checks, online payments and credit card had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "On your arm?" his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with Miss Holder?" lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and in a very precise fashion." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' infinite languor in his face. weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "I say it is." lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already might have a private word with us. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. question," said Holmes, smiling. fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." photograph?" 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the congratulate you again." The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. little trying to do so much typewriting?" 1.E.9. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "But the mystery?" "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies off." the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I flock.' Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up records." we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should What do you deduce from it?" day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in papers must be those that are destroyed.' acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, know that the truth is known." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave even of instruction." "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "Yes?" "Certainly, madam." "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "You think so, too?" sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' only touch the interest." started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder."