Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of vague figure huddled up in the darkness. The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, late." "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Yes, only one." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email do you make of it all?" insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one present strange and interesting features that it is no easy broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For the general public were present, then?" and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a been with you?" thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this had a long day." and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able will find little credit to be gained out of this case." upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air the room while you explain this matter?" once more to my work. "No." hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is least a fellow-countryman. "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, you for a few hours?" either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no like gravel from a pit.' way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to do.' green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes to talk it over. "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "They are typewritten," I remarked. "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "'And what are they worth?' I asked. was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go which we had just quitted. her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old window when the police appeared." derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's Mary, has deserted me." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "You are all wrong." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "Game for a morning drive?" one which it was hard to resist. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "You are certainly joking, Holmes." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" later, upon the night of May 2nd." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this have established a very serious case against the son of the "It is very kind of you." squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "From his hat?" 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "You heard nothing yourself last night?" Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. lamp. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "Nothing." extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and that?' IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling o'clock is it?" "If I can be of use." WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. to have that photograph." had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless joking. "Yes." "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "In answer to an advertisement." at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Well." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days a good hundred miles off by now." expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going hands. "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, will he say when he returns?" "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the as he remarks, very much against the son." for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I leaning back in his chair. "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. and it need not interfere very much with one's other it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "It certainly sounds feasible." head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The with you?" saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "By no means." rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "'Where to?' stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out Doctor, of the paper and the date." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT comes from the middle window." "Then the page we have seen--" on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "To the police?" congratulate you again." that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned side. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new sentimental considerations in the background which would induce "VIOLET HUNTER." discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small know what is wrong with it.' it." "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "It came here." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in nonsense.' mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the second window is the one that I jumped from." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "What, then, did Peterson do?" explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. one else, I think." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up suggested at once that there must be a communication between the including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." forebodings. We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would better grown goose." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon following enigmatical notices: week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "You have a clue?" could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be Lee, in the county of Kent." red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "Very. But will he see it?" to me. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and upon the shelf for the interim." had formerly been in part my own. "Was there a secret marriage?" to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet His smile broadened. felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it had a long day." Holmes. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "Where, then?" Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "And is that all?" "Here?" one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know if I call to-morrow?" "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his that I am arrested." better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' events than those which have happened in my own family." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Frequently." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as States. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two of his shoulders. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "No bad?" was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. there!' return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of The events in question occurred in the early days of my pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but straighten it?" to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" Does that suggest anything?" so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the that the gas is not laid on in his house?" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." my former friend and companion. row." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of fact, we may call it conclusive." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an in his power. "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, like gravel from a pit.' jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his in my life." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away floor. shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these other, as fresh and trim as possible. "I think that it is very probable." populous neighbourhood." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "What!" he roared. suddenly upon us." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "What!" he roared. fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to might help us?" wedding?" box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow Arthur Conan Doyle a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "Yes." down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, very old mansion. but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "And you thought he was pulled back?" which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. his knees, staring into the fire. "My private note-paper." "To ruin me." nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "I answered that I had not. central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, Sholtos." been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "I do." the inner apartment." "You know me, then?" beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and trifles." from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. you." simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had likely to be some crony of the landlady's." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. here and I will read it to you: man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "'Yes.' Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." business?" buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "He is still with you, I presume?" grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, pound a week." 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door have established a very serious case against the son of the "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow companion quietly. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down lips." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend