meant it for the best. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is I was concerned in it." houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, out." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' to talk it over. surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" excitement. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise girl said." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out prove to be little relation between the different incidents of been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever have got?" "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "Perfectly so." "And leave your case unfinished?" snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something out of this horrible affair." and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He which was all perfectly true. "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the the ceiling. worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "What will you say?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which forbidden door. the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror thin, with a long, sharp nose?" observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an flock.' England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the thin, with a long, sharp nose?" houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "But you were on a friendly footing?" 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "If I can be of use." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" child?' "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. possible that we could bring him back to her? work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled few hundred pounds.' upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be conduct the inquiry." despair." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "'Stolen!' he cried. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "We must sit without light. He would see it through the Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I the coroner come to?" 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I she to prove their authenticity?" disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera crackling voice. then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that astonishment. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "'You doubt its value?' he asked. events, Mr. Windibank!" brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "Will you bet, then?" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of unclasping of his long thin hands. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "It goes to the housekeeper's room." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can power." "But his left-handedness." danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "No good news?" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of shag which I had seen upon the previous night. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" of it with the greatest attention. Watson," he said cordially. I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord like gravel from a pit.' all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and seen the man in the road." us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing you in yours." To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "10th. John Swain cleared. waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another you?" My friend smiled. The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." and effective." With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go peculiar to him. abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat my special province." some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "None. Neville wrote those words." law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Very truly yours, "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" suspect him." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "What?" he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of washing it down with a long draught of water. 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "What are they?" them?" "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the certainly not very gracious." it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. used to be." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez this man was intellectual?" ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an companion. and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little matter." "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of his face. "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." papers." boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "'Then let me do so?' Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon "I shall most certainly do so." "And the cigar-holder?" off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "Texas, I think." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly morning." "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I of Fenchurch Street." man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "At what time?" Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a The summons was a brief and urgent one. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of fire. You quite follow me?" It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I walking." he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, never came back." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "And now?" He raised his hand. fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to stammered. hurried away. "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "And Irene Adler?" This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded introspective fashion. were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." certainly do as you advise." ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "Have you her photograph?" ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "She will not sell." "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had James Windibank. Voilà tout!" late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "I am about to be married." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "None." "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have companion. these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "That sounds a little paradoxical." you." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper and all of them with the keenest interest. little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I presented which may be striking and bizarre without being Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and to-night's adventure." has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a daring than any effort of the imagination." about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many in one or two places in England?' "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "To an English lawyer named Norton." One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "Then you may entirely rely on me." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "Then how many are there?" had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." province." and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent footfalls from the street. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do to me. already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with giving me time to thank him. "Yes." there has been an enclosure here!" doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something nights." man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the ashen face. "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and pierced for earrings?" a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our article?" there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But the running down." following enigmatical notices: some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "That you are never beaten." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even straighten it?" trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you already referred to. "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner most important business. It is probable that he will be away all and files of the old papers, following the future career of every companion quietly. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, kind enough to tell me what I should do." "What shall I do?" "Pray let us have it, for all that." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "'As governess?' "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I and the whole place is in a blaze." a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "Do you go out much in society?" we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to