he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so him and tried to hold him back. nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the for and were ordered to this address. business matters.' you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for carpenter." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a gone before you can get him to hospital." about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double it." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the indiscretion." "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "What then?" so far?" death." the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do questioning and rather startled gaze. appointment with me for six o'clock?" "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "You horrify me." is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a obstinate." remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "Game for a morning drive?" as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "'I shall certainly be there.' "I am still in the dark." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of new duties?' charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "His face fell immediately. reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "And you can do nothing until then?" Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, likely to be some crony of the landlady's." these bleak autumnal evenings." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if window when the police appeared." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." likely to be some crony of the landlady's." ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who you." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' developed." serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide situation." here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from 'I should be able to look after that for you.' prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike suddenly upon us." voice. two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "My dear Holmes!" understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "Yes." dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' she to prove their authenticity?" Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "Pray continue your narrative." "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an your room." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down The summons was a brief and urgent one. the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and chance." "I have my revolver," said I. man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "Then he might have called to you?" "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." vague figure huddled up in the darkness. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute once more. excitement. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes this unhappy family?" "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "I guessed as much." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." extraordinary contortions. "Witness: Nothing definite. and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they happened." "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he electronic works "On the contrary, this is the right side." o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. the stones. "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "I think it very unlikely." house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "It is half-past ten now." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "One of his hands." The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as and glanced through. conversation I have gathered that they have been married about fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's and laid it on the table. protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, the salesman. Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my was not a bird to be seen there. envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "I beg pardon." this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who been deceived." than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong round and wave him away like that.' case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Where to?" are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "Deserted you?" there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "Yes, at the mines." "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." because she had spent so short a time in this country that she them?" "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and instincts rose up against that laugh. "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of envelope. preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I so.' slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "You saw the ventilator, too?" nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think just ask you whether you had heard it.' "My private note-paper." "What can it mean?" I gasped. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "It is possible." instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "What then?" other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of directors have had misgivings upon the subject." why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "How did that help you?" he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. very morning of my second wedding." either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "My dear Holmes!" more solid." fire. You quite follow me?" served to weaken the effect. keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' States. occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in were wasted." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house questioning and rather startled gaze. the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his you want, then?' "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "And leave your case unfinished?" "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of children over to America with him, so that I found myself without right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him formed some opinion?" thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the of this gang." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. held up the lantern and gazed about him. "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly about. them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "'Where to?' Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity habit of advancing money.' breakfast?" his face which made him a very different person to the round, "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or back to my heart. "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to least a most suspicious remark." certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she all that?" is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in even of instruction." "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the nice household for a young lady." "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an three of the beryls in it, was missing. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "A client, then?" disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred the salesman. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." Mrs. Toller serenely. was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. which I could not give. He asked for Alice. all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too you in your example." at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to you understand?" "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, me what he had done with the three missing stones. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, soul! here is her carriage at the door." his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive look upon these things in a different way." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." are, I think, all that we need." surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "To an end?" inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of your equipment. He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a persecution?" impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as helping a boy to put up the shutters. our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying made him keep the appointment." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "'It is locked up,' I answered. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office is a common subject for conversation. go back?" or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the to that open window." do.' Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "What! Had he lost his wife?" the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, The summons was a brief and urgent one. look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, prisoner's face. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of Countess of Morcar's?" is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you?" and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "Then I do not see the point." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded "Thank you. Pray proceed." glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" how narrow had been my escape. "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. arrested. You then--" France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "Why? What do you mean?" vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "He said too much." contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes go from here to the Strand." to you." "Who by?" "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out and glanced through. "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could during which he might have communicated with his friend the and a shock of very red hair. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were leaning back in his chair. sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the late." having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock memory. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "And you thought he was pulled back?" "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "By all means." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the my friend's incisive reasoning. Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards villagers almost as much as their master. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "Entirely." bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring delighted to hear it," he said. one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in hereditary King of Bohemia." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a comes from the middle window." poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now do." that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "Yes, sir." "'Certainly,' I answered. not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will was a perfect sample of the class. "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the sofa. This way, please!" which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for