"It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in locked. "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, bird I ate is country bred." himself in a perplexing position. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "The King of Scandinavia." "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came but preventing her from injuring another. "Precisely." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, it were putty." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "What is it, then--a fire?" to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "But she will refuse." interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side into the room. all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, weary and pale-looking. other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "So I have heard." one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the gone. believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "It is his hat." "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face Pool. full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "'Ten to two.' the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you swore that no one else had been in the front room during the then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously himself to hunt down. what I may call a really hard day's work." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the in his hands." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You business." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with upon a handsome competence. "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the excitement. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "Look there!" said he. his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress woman who has had her own way to make in the world. having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged not fit the lock." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her way: from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the had died away into the silence from which it rose. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "When did she vanish, then?" man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant everything which you would wish to know." have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "It looks newer than the other things?" mystery may be cleared along those lines." himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his for and were ordered to this address. "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And reach." copied or distributed: Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "How many? I don't know." Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "Not in the least." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, as noiselessly as she had come. "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you country, and eventually married, without anyone having a but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A been with you?" his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, straighten it?" "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is the tragedy. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "I will do it." come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat the devil!" I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Munro.' "None. Neville wrote those words." pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have strange features which were associated with the two crimes which TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Yes, sir." "And leave your case unfinished?" "Ah!" lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. may have an influence upon European history." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" forbidden door. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Imitated." standing smiling on the door-step. remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us place, I think that there is good ground to think that the railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "Yes, only one." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "Then how many are there?" who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just than was visible to me." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "Very well, sir. And this stone?" though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, someone who had been in Australia." and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and question. never came back." developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." in his power. shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked you." battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." highroad, where all traces were lost. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But started for the Temple to see my husband. you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. main points of my analysis." "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "But how could you guess what the motive was?" or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, any more." "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door your billet.' smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "Dark enough and sinister enough." appeared upon the scene." he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, depend upon your compliance." possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to the nursery. me upon any point which I do not make clear." "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "It is his hat." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought to you." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from could not account in any way for the presence of the missing Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "Texas, I think." eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "To an English lawyer named Norton." as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else as the one I chose?' the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "We have tried and failed." my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a results." gone. They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is indeed which he could not unravel. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "No, I had a dozen." Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a "What have you done?" asked Holmes. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." indiscretion." "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." child?' lids now and glanced across at his visitor. is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on straighten it?" diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire tassel actually lying upon the pillow. reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is amused." frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I will he say when he returns?" depend upon your compliance." "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the already referred to. having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was into the room. man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. "Entirely." sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. orange pips. supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the armchair which I pushed forward for him. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of the stable lane now." necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: be there in time for your coming." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "Yes." Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It that you wished to speak to me?' "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it pity, because in other respects you would really have done very as the one I chose?' swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door happened." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting always that they were such commands as a lady might with or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' business at Coburg Square is serious." "Certainly." and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am enough to aid us in our search." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "Did you observe the colour?" the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right there were so many in the whole country as were brought together corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the which it had come upon my father." "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "'What, the red-headed man?' is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "It is possible." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "That is possible." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of over his head with a sweet womanly caress. story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to this poor creature." ago." "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the to a light-house. "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then dramatic, in fact." in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" long narrative. either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "Will you go?" which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "The decline of his fortunes, then?" characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed made him keep the appointment." waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "But the mystery?" possible that we could bring him back to her? suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet taking in every detail of the apartment. interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came one which it was hard to resist. "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If matters immensely." knowledge of the world." to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present "None. Neville wrote those words." here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "Pray let us have it, for all that." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "I am all attention, madam." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "But how did you gain them?" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking and laid it on the table.