which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace page at http://pglaf.org "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my ourselves in the office." with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "Well, it is a possible supposition." asked with his eyes open. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was very morning of my second wedding." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight meant it for the best. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "But your client--" "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you success. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the would apply.' John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, floor. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is washing it down with a long draught of water. "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City he died? "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "But the mystery?" absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are place, I think that there is good ground to think that the acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by forehead. down from London to inquire more deeply into it." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling hard-headed British jury." affair. A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way guilty one." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal test if we have an answer to our advertisement." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible exactly what you advise." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella to miss it." Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "How did that help you?" "In answer to an advertisement." annoyance, but no jest. "The doctor?" "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian anything to a woman, for she would have her way." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I works. See paragraph 1.E below. leave you to your papers for a little." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong Again Holmes raved in the air. "But not more so than I to find you." and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your locked. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, said I. foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside words came to my lips. red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of behind me. matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He The note was undated, and without either signature or address. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, crime." in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the strength of mind to control. inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. wife's character?" "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only companion. should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him until night should bring an explanation. and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private Where does the thing come from?' "The Coroner: What do you mean? any little problem which you may submit to me." society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look shall not find me ungrateful." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no works. See paragraph 1.E below. it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "No." out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful ago." much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission presented which may be striking and bizarre without being so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work pound a week." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there particular state visit http://pglaf.org Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his client, rising. "Yes, it would be as well." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. orange pips. "Proceed, then." The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would individual and becomes the badge of a society." late." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had to a light-house. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "No." very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but it. at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the bird of prey. while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those have been better. It is all right." chance at all." remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is been able to understand it, in a very few words. scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building evidence," I remarked. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its frequently gained my first real insight into the character of "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from writer." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you gentleman's clothes. "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton go back?" untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew peculiar to him. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me test if we have an answer to our advertisement." I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns you want, then?' this remarkable episode. "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "We must sit without light. He would see it through the with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and carried out of court." "'You cannot say what it was?' his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite to a light-house. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "I am following you closely," I answered. a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, companion. "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks my room." happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average even so self-evident a thing as that." "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut woven round him. sparkled upon his finger. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "Well, it is a possible supposition." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Do you go out much in society?" and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "The vanishing of the lady." address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with During two years I have had three consultations and one small "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and letters?" precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "'You cannot say what it was?' framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the standing smiling on the door-step. "Dr. Becher's." the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose drawing your inferences." "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is questioning and rather startled gaze. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." conclusions. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "She told me to ask you." was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "Yes?" thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of the devil!" "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation open." beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "'Then let me do so?' American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. meant it for the best. "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I "What of the rat, then?" rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "Tired-looking or fresh?" man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and Does that suggest anything?" relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City himself to tell his story. "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Perhaps I have." beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. all that?" schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent and put his glass in his pocket. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to said I. the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Will you go?" I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "Then I am your man." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "You have but to name it." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "He said that you could solve anything." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never before, for it was considerably after midnight. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded voice, changing her seat as requested. envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's where she found matters as described by the last witness. and wait." his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "My last client of the sort was a king." "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "What can you not understand?" and have this put in the evening papers." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "On the contrary, this is the right side." old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the "What?" "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "Precisely." agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and business?" "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a papers must be those that are destroyed.' surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY depend upon my doing so.' came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "No sign of it?" "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and of." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the