"'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. papers on the sundial.'" yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the knowledge of the world." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "But what is it you wish?" about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. promised to bring home. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one go back?" "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire always that they were such commands as a lady might with rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the direction." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would outside." Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "Precisely so. But how--" business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "No, finished." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't highroad, where all traces were lost. down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine 1.E.9. long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "Whose house is it?" As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely mystery." disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "Imitated." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank thirty. wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each him. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his politicians who had been sent down from the North. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the within hail.' too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to During two years I have had three consultations and one small "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he Henry Baker is a member." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "Pray be precise as to details," said he. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are footfalls from the street. slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In all-comprehensive glances. to change my dress. are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You brought there to personate someone, and the real person is league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "Will you bet, then?" Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project companion. "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "And how have you succeeded?" his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than was a lad." events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "I have seen the police." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "What are they?" eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss figure." home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able society." "Where to?" drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite particular state visit http://pglaf.org laugh and put his lips to my ear. "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the any little problem which you may submit to me." anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the the room while you explain this matter?" Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of For additional contact information: entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough His smile broadened. fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been It may be so in this case, also." along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other been shamefully used." have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "I would give my fortune to have them back." "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the lumber-room." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "Yes, all." settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." in this way: placed his cuttings. down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "No, I think that I'll take it." who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this have accepted such a situation. think, you have already met." tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two do you make of it all?" "Texas, I think." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg from the brougham. delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "When did it break out?" nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "Ah, but I was recommended to you." practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a point in the dark hollow of his hand. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. detained." the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable himself to tell his story. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had The summons was a brief and urgent one. met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a said I. our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "'As governess?' only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and have I gained?" with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "The Cedars?" this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite know what is wrong with it.' "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and troubles have been weighing upon his mind. said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and them present such singular features as the strange train of outbreak?" faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this four million human beings all jostling each other within the heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have was feeling which was the fattest.' contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "How about poison?" the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to trying to your nerves." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said charged with?" little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small redistribution. unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that note?" it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four you do it in twenty minutes!' details should find their way into the papers. Inspector He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would threw himself down with his face to the pillow. minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off photograph?" inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the developed." the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already bled considerably." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me business?" all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll villagers almost as much as their master. upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how to change my dress. lost nothing by them." necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE introspective fashion. "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "Married! When?" hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "My private note-paper." hopeless attempt at recovering them." ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their if she died from some sudden fright." Holmes' thin, eager face. surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, the night.' has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand anything to do with the matter?" any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had know that the truth is known." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to meanly of me." Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet to talk it over. followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical certainly not very gracious." golden eyeglasses. village inn over there?" pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project distance from the station, and there we found the young lady be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, been lifted and conveyed somewhere." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. shall not find me ungrateful." square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue so far?" and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed than to us. me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching companion quietly. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "And I say east," said my patient. matter." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen any more." creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered and inquire as to the address." "If I can be of use." closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat "Nothing." "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and away in different directions, and I went off to make my own round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, easy-going way." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "Absolutely?" sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "'And the work?' will be renamed. music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private Holmes. come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up through." garden below. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an good-night and bustled off upon her way. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, hard-headed British jury." has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "And what did you see?" "Your presence might be invaluable." slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the had died away into the silence from which it rose. "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that legal crime." some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, now. It seems that there had been some informality about their association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the learned something! Where are the gems?" found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, may never be exposed to such a temptation." horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a vault. my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and all?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom."