despair." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "No, thank goodness, she did not." time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "And Irene Adler?" great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. and laid it on the table. for the market.' "I am armed." looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "Thank you. Pray proceed." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other indeed which he could not unravel. man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action him, that man would not have given me such complete information I. newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that read over the extraordinary announcement. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. was not a bird to be seen there. cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from and the church but not where the lady lived." disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. the one as in the other." himself to tell his story. truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in skylight. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "In which, sir?" "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened Edgeware Road. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "My Mary? Impossible!" Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly upon a handsome competence. luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and returned to France?" "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" the little opening for the ventilator is." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "So I have heard." red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated he died? hurried by. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you "It is his hat." lamp. "I will do it." you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should James Windibank. Voilà tout!" There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the question. that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began bedroom door." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "You horrify me!" "What office?" and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "My Mary? Impossible!" listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There imbecility!" he cried. Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door not come at once?" although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has appeared upon the scene." "Dirty?" there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "Very truly yours, least a fellow-countryman. fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My and laid it on the table. case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. "Yes, certainly." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "Oh, yes, easily." "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Just look it up, then." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were morning." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it "Then the page we have seen--" grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from "Yes." "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you that face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little joking. from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "Yes, all." footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the to-morrow." squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "And Miss Sutherland?" "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "It was a confession," I ejaculated. which was all perfectly true. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, "What! You do not mean bodies?" unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which Holmes rather sternly. round with crates and massive boxes. Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a gbnewby@pglaf.org for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "Yes, but only for you and me." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full business." and capable of preserving a secret.' right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "Then what has happened to him?" of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute second." "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the the coroner come to?" "'You cannot say what it was?' you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true interested in these little problems, and since you are good "Very well, sir. And this stone?" bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." written, and locked the door of the office after me. and capable of preserving a secret.' to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. key turn in the lock." answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some James Windibank. Voilà tout!" should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the which we had just quitted. business came to an end." with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "But you were on a friendly footing?" my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and have an American origin." pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "You have carte blanche." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway forbidden door. in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me pictures, libraries, or plate. and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that think you a quite exceptional woman." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "Yes." "By train from Waterloo." the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "Not yet." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his digesting their breakfasts at home." accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "'Very good.' "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a strange features which were associated with the two crimes which gone. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very of your young ladies.' John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with me. You must get home instantly and act." and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and burst out into a roar of laughter. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "BALLARAT." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at undoubtedly my uncle's." "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of that I may have something better before very many minutes are about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "They are typewritten," I remarked. so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened American. Then who could this American be, and why should he a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by will be renamed. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "You horrify me." "Where is it, then?" lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, not use it unless it is absolutely needed." know all about it," he snarled. the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, pressing in one house as in another. were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes speckled band?" both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "Frequently." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "And what then?" slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "VIOLET HUNTER." iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "And your father? Did you tell him?" "Stolen, then." France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "I say it is." "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began Pool. you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "In the cells." be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to words came to my lips. wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes discontent upon his features. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend shadow pass over his face as I spoke. but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "But the mystery?" as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she the coronet in his hand?" trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by coat-tails." say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "Of what day?" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get test if we have an answer to our advertisement." over part of the map. "What do you read?" not as remarkable as your advertisement." "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the him and tried to hold him back. which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if of the one which your family is now devouring." back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "But what harm can there be in that?" was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is and the whole place is in a blaze." unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an was feeling which was the fattest.' wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "How did he come?" repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "And I say east," said my patient. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came me what he had done with the three missing stones. return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "The Cedars?" seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, an introduction to him?" a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the burst out into a roar of laughter. to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head