about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt developed." and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, is acting for the best. "But the mystery?" bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the some city in a dream. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Dark enough and sinister enough." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and in his power. deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as some city in a dream. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed and prosperity to your house. Good-night." a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, the night.' Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a is," said he presently: that?' "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "Certainly." A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' forbidden door. including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists becomes even more simple." towards the blaze. your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "The vanishing of the lady." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of this remarkable episode. at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could some city in a dream. be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or during the last few years, and there are many noble families to The note was undated, and without either signature or address. beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in thirty. common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known chair. shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My make me his representative both with the servants and with the highroad, where all traces were lost. had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of him!" the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and leaning back in his chair. ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a outbreak?" "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for Where does the thing come from?' returned to France?" made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time which it had come upon my father." my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would delirious. myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I himself to hunt down. entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "Yes." playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but to where he stood hid behind the curtain. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, particular state visit http://pglaf.org stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the brought there to personate someone, and the real person is docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love Chief Executive and Director we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for Pope's Court. when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be shall use the carriage to-night." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Dark enough and sinister enough." tapping his fingers upon the table. twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which might help us?" bears upon the case?" here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which The police have openly confessed that they can at present make I shall continue with my miserable story. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, get the tickets." laugh and put his lips to my ear. quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a or other trace. But how on earth--" the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten his fortune, and I went back to pa. bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept has little to do with my story." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and the date of his supposed suicide." has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far his grey eyes. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "Which surely he restored to their owner?" Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the figure." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "Why, what do you mean?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the he bowed and left the room without another word. entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "The doctor?" shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of an introduction to him?" "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just been shamefully used." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. and glanced through. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, The telegram which we eventually received came late one night obstinate." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "But she will refuse." he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may threw himself down with his face to the pillow. common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." public press." "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of stalked out of the room. "This photograph!" broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "It is his hat." that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not is now desirous of getting those letters back." hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "No more words. Get out!" which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a to have that photograph." sparkled upon his finger. about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very just called myself is not exactly my own." We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we sneer upon his pale face. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he assist you in forming an opinion." "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying Watson," he said cordially. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my Holmes." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "And Irene Adler?" The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as I approached. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "Then the page we have seen--" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the III. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "Always." considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have not, dad?" she asked. ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain to tackle the facts." "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather husband's writing, madam." and inquire as to the address." such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll whole matter to your consideration." that I am arrested." "'In my own bureau.' came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "Very. But will he see it?" "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me and shall probably return to London by the evening train." It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own The summons was a brief and urgent one. hurried away. "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were evidence," I remarked. father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "From his hat?" "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon sneer upon his pale face. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted as he remarks, very much against the son." "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a during that time.' of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "No, distinctly professional." "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he affair. remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to "You know me, then?" should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second intrusion of other matters." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about Literary Archive Foundation woman." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to affection." to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "It came here." up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Yes, I have one waiting." twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. fluttered off among the others. "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "She told me to ask you." Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, Again Holmes raved in the air. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and forehead. the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." passage and a tap at the door. stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take look upon these things in a different way." one else, I think." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the father's place of business?" used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a heavily into it. should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My taking in every detail of the apartment. would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. friend's singular character. "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "What then?" equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, away into the river." comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in that you wished to speak to me?' do you make of it all?" papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social observed. this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural Literary Archive Foundation only touch the interest." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of problems help me to do so." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said all that?" once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I his wife has ceased to love him." "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and were new raised from a basin. secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You letters?" should be taken.' neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." province." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "Did you observe the colour?" "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you giving me time to thank him. how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting