at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "What can it mean?" I gasped. for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name upon the shelf for the interim." it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must seen the man in the road." have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "Never." "Not particularly." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to remarked. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with be.' "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a 11:15.' father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he purpose equally well?" me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "And when will you call?" have not had my rubber." very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. I shall communicate with you." hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly went to the Alpha were town bred." full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most answered with a sidelong glance. and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "But how?" "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to fluttered off among the others. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of Holmes' room. "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian has little to do with my story." benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to correct than the official force." "Stoke Moran?" said he. "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal The King stared at him in amazement. doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard felt?" "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some what I may call a really hard day's work." "Is he quiet?" Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight forbidden door. I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, hurried away. drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "I have hopes." in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among pound a week." "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. Street. until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "Not him." and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From not use it unless it is absolutely needed." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then in. "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To was shining brightly. "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during felt the room to be a little close.' to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right a very grave face. freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had the little opening for the ventilator is." "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "Yes." "Which are?" morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they morning." "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were it." over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, said I. strange features which were associated with the two crimes which the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate long narrative. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, back into the street. was shining brightly. I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical carpenter." note?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure the bed, and you in that chair." than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar excitement. "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point do.' Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "Then he might have called to you?" "Then, as to money?" "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned despair." upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he for and were ordered to this address. repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, is worth.' unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of The telegram which we eventually received came late one night loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "Now, then, what's the last entry?" at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and Serpentine Avenue. "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is ourselves in the office." people don't know." "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "And help." time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. certainly not very gracious." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "I have seen the police." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I that you can jump it.' the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "The King of Scandinavia." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "Then, how do you know?" child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "But his left-handedness." "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "A confidential servant?" "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, see a sister of mine apply for." To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business he bowed and left the room without another word. it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "And the murderer?" question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "You saw the ventilator, too?" look upon these things in a different way." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better sooner or later she must fall a victim. however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "Yes." lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the Clair, of Lee." silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "To ruin me." intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left true." "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in from the brougham. have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." been with you?" my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "We have tried and failed." "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was it means?" remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "But how?" seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "And why?" "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round emerged. unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a there." All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "Nothing." trifles." shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well Munro.' "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "We were both in the photograph." character. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "At what time?" "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so lectures into a series of tales." is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the "We must have a cab." didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to was already answered. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite writing, and yet I know it well." the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "No good news?" "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little society." "Were they all fastened this morning?" occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his said I. accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the delirious. "Witness: Nothing definite. open." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your "'I am sure that I do not know.' of Fenchurch Street." "You have a clue?" has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "No, finished." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm three of the beryls in it, was missing. the King without delay." DAMAGE. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him his huge brown hands. "Have you her photograph?" which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed his wife has ceased to love him." but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing "Have you her photograph?" in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing back alive. thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and you." back to my heart. were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over row." you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too him!" was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the or other trace. But how on earth--" "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have the coronet in his hand?" Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to like that before?" do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "So I am. Very much so." pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by away in different directions, and I went off to make my own it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "Yes, sir." particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I photograph?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. all-comprehensive glances. - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "Oh, fresh and glossy." "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "It is to him that this trophy belongs." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for