and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met have I gained?" bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "And how in the world did you find them?" beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "And your mother is alive?" sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my walking." "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing green of the new foliage. "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" hopeless attempt at recovering them." He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found sake, don't!" the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. 1.E.9. only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he to have that photograph." The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my in my life." and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. bled considerably." had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught drawing your inferences." doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "What!" he roared. reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in tassel actually lying upon the pillow. up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and his wife has ceased to love him." locked. my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat hereditary King of Bohemia." Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De McCarthy." of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and himself to tell his story. "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "Yes." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "Yes, but only for you and me." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man this poor creature." about. accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera garden below. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall fluttered off among the others. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "And why?" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the October 9, 1890. strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite appeared upon the scene." she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which photograph?" and the whole place is in a blaze." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the "I think that it is very probable." me where it went to?" hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "What! Had he lost his wife?" go--none." all that?" "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." passage and a tap at the door. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "'Ten to two.' we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday events than those which have happened in my own family." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his in your London, you will know that the office of the company is before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "I will try. What is it?" found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained coroner's jury." affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know your troubles." "Nothing." never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his it? Did I buy the geese off you?" between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "I never have." tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "And how in the world did you find them?" brandy and water within his reach. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "What can you not understand?" not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a south, for the country is more deserted there." "An accident, I presume?" were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, these bleak autumnal evenings." while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do might help us?" "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. anything to do with the matter?" him." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who prepare for the new role I have to play." after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving you do it in twenty minutes!' Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the upon the sideboard." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been Holmes' thin, eager face. and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside him. doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Well?" and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an row." trying to your nerves." was used.' liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "I warn you that they are very incomplete." corner of the building. nothing of it?" too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE the warnings." convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and III. "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "And now?" I asked. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "What steps will you take?" I asked. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "'Tell me all about it,' said I. Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out Where does the thing come from?' Holmes." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of strode off upon his way. sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "Yes, it would be as well." "And who is her maid?" friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "By train from Waterloo." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham I. she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "What! a murderous attack?" stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this Young McCarthy must be got off, however." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning over with notes and figures. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done from you?" understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul friend's singular character. there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a fishes. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "Certainly." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in crackling voice. Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "I am sure." bill, which interests me deeply." as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" his eyes and forehead. go back?" a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "Get out!" said he. "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year conduct the inquiry." perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door this truth that in these little records of our cases which you good for you to do.' work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, since then to throw any light upon what became of him." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "You'll never persuade me to believe that." mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the assist you in forming an opinion." The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to appointment with me for six o'clock?" We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Dirty?" As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you dear old homesteads?" appeared upon the scene." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "'Yes, sir.' little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social shall not find me ungrateful." believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in affection." follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "To an English lawyer named Norton." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose his forehead." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress did not hear it also.' going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the my little problems." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for not come at once?" probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I "I warn you that they are very incomplete." stammered. while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "What is it?" at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "Imitated." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between acted in my house last night?" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my "Has he come with you to-night?" reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the Miss Holder?" "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "His face fell immediately. "The King of Scandinavia." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "I have come for advice." "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take key of the affair now." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "I fear not." knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "And is that all?" 11:15.' gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The is so. I know all about McCarthy." and the church but not where the lady lived." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." it." this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our where we are going." on in his house." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, status with the IRS. constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing this poor creature." presented which may be striking and bizarre without being objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you your Highness to the police-station?" table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the closing the door. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else that he has suffered." while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may appointment with me for six o'clock?" "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was "Yes, I have one waiting." place, I think that there is good ground to think that the a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, gbnewby@pglaf.org the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "No." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "You horrify me!" "Is he quiet?" attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and