should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such nonsense.' hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "The knees of his trousers." afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler or other trace. But how on earth--" said I. 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable o'clock is it?" "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in directors, with the result that you have seen." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, recover the gem." what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "So I heard. You have him here?" looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "You have the photograph?" a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire said he. "And did you observe any change in her then?" "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. one which it was hard to resist. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this singular points about the case. What did the police think of the one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Yesterday." chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your a very grave face. pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at telegram would bring me down to your help." "And why?" is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said http://www.gutenberg.net whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. have one." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "I should like to see him very much." should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we tell him that I know him to be innocent." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had narrative." and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was troubles have been weighing upon his mind. assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "'Never,' said I. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "'Which dealer's?' from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "But your client--" Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm him." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp matter over." with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was forebodings. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate desk. It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "But what will you do?" told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. his huge brown hands. Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm telegram would bring me down to your help." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we questionable one." manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue sentimental considerations in the background which would induce deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father 11:15.' light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "And Irene Adler?" village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "You have compromised yourself seriously." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "What is it?" "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis next day. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "What! Had he lost his wife?" Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "Was the window open?" vague figure huddled up in the darkness. the inquest, and which are worth considering." transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a McCarthy." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. in him." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "Dark enough and sinister enough." premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its golden eyeglasses. "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "Precisely so. But how--" particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide distinguish the words: gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of it." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the will be renamed. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the easy-going way." few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which come either from the window or the door. My attention was dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were "Whose house is it?" tension within him. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the spare." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present Edgeware Road. when your master had gone out." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the hand, madam?" slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Precisely." down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight could go. had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the power." "Not him." spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned an introduction to him?" and have this put in the evening papers." gbnewby@pglaf.org "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" like gravel from a pit.' 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "And how did you find out?" unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I it? Did I buy the geese off you?" the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I Where does the thing come from?' and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a had no one to advise her at such a crisis." without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should only touch the interest." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned fish-monger and a tide-waiter." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." matter." "'Very good.' will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood so.' Street. or other trace. But how on earth--" But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little your billet.' determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "No. What a strange idea!" purpose of examination. round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained whole matter to your consideration." a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "Do you go out much in society?" was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been be there in time for your coming." "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a when you have done it." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "How long did she speak to this Alice?" of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." said I. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary ago." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill breakfast." who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could be.' "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. tell him that I know him to be innocent." "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend mystery." wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is tell them apart.' drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when so far?" my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. in this way: unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "Pray do so." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" suggested at once that there must be a communication between the for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do from you?" "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "And you don't know his address?" garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, to some other building. IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from cup of tea. "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' from you?" front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "None." "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." heavy and sharp instrument." than was visible to me." and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. more terrible than the truth. mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "'About the same.' "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any was it brought him the coronet? "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "'And what salary do you ask?' wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "I shall be delighted." Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it details." bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several crime." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for the coronet in his hands?" "I should wish to." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have had no one to advise her at such a crisis." Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no gone. my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You answered with a sidelong glance. is worth.' way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or entirely devoid of interest." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "It goes to the housekeeper's room." Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See business?" garden below. "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip and looked back. at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the is so. I know all about McCarthy." walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an congratulate you again." "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three such person." fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly not within a twentieth part of the market price." the ceiling. nonsense.' "I will, Miss Turner." "He slept on the premises." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove acquaintance?" trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been congenial hunt. how narrow had been my escape. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "Only as much as we can deduce." "Always." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' photograph a cabinet?" Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "'And what salary do you ask?' we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian redistribution. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts way: cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the prove to be little relation between the different incidents of both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "That also I could fathom." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "You have but to name it." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, asked. the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled becomes even more simple." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the death." matter." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing your room."