elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "Perhaps we may make them less so." however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss shall use the carriage to-night." considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, asked with his eyes open. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the meanly of me." 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable get her out of the way." that threaten you." in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and at once, for I have only half an hour." flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis country, and eventually married, without anyone having a robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little little trying to do so much typewriting?" and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "Yes, all." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the said he. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "On your arm?" where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George bonnet, and went out." afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. was used.' hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO relation between them, and what the object of his repeated It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the a very grave face. them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from matters immensely." once more for Briony Lodge. is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have felt the room to be a little close.' "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "You horrify me!" address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. row." while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across corner of the building. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. Holmes. fishes. violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: the coronet at all injured?" had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "Oh, the cause is excellent!" elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing not interfere, come what may. You understand?" diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw forebodings. "Ten will be early enough." "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "No, I had a dozen." building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and humiliation." Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I salesman. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were becomes even more simple." take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last cigar and let me expound." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "And Miss Sutherland?" last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that been deceived." knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the point in the dark hollow of his hand. double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something key turn in the lock." reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I third from London." answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some outsides of the windows. Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door upon the white wrist. hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." answered with a sidelong glance. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "But who is he?" perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand correct than the official force." I am not easy in my mind about them." matters immensely." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "No good news?" for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round showing my impatience. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with introspective fashion. importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. not personally threatened." feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If "It missed him, then?" Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "But who is he?" "Do you go out much in society?" down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were His smile broadened. "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the evidence," I remarked. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "How did you deduce the select?" foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he strength." you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite chambers. "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "No, but the enclosure is." keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the the salesman. received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification there were one or two details which were new to me. But the them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem death." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I fear." statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "But who is he?" shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had back alive. sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco round with crates and massive boxes. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. and prosperity to your house. Good-night." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his important." "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "I have come for advice." brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." were wasted." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I astonishment. "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "Very truly yours, dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was lips." "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." Sutherland. gone. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself call for protection in the marriage market, for the present little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of friend's singular character. your sleep?' quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and sentimental considerations in the background which would induce the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we all?" on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "I assure you that I am in your hands." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "What! a murderous attack?" dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, shadow pass over his face as I spoke. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: it. his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Her father is very rich?" forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Yes. He waved his hands." a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a companion imperturbably. glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be silent! Oh, he will be silent!' To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." said he. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "Because he was handy and would come cheap." as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, "I have a cab outside." "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." south, for the country is more deserted there." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and overpowering excitement and concern. matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that crime." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "It may not come to that," said Holmes. gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the train.' knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the weapon." "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the rat could hardly pass through." "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between II. said he at last. "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and attention." http://gutenberg.net/license). "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to at my remark. word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those awaited us upon the table. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the from you?" Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "I guessed as much." typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "Yes." doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she entirely devoid of interest." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "Never." without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "None." A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear said he at last. fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that yourselves in at night?" presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the his forehead." that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "But who is he?" "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "Eh? What was that?" "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the wife's character?" how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was it? Did I buy the geese off you?" said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "10th. John Swain cleared. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, the station." "But I have heard all that you have heard." 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "What shall I do?" shag which I had seen upon the previous night. your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should problems help me to do so." cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I you." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and outbreak?" low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "It is his hat." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "And the murderer?" the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "I am armed." "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' papers on the sundial.'" have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is what do you think they found in the pockets?" painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a think that he is innocent?" looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in bird of prey. armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious presented which may be striking and bizarre without being believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I new duties?' produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late over part of the map. "What do you read?" lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which lost nothing by them." enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no