I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me and your relations to her." to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "And now?" I asked. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" newspaper selections." "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, back alive. they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And legal crime." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal union?" for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that tension within him. fait accompli?" which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones if I call to-morrow?" the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the politicians who had been sent down from the North. thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature digesting their breakfasts at home." in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. respectable self." evidence," I remarked. about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon both be extremely obliged.' the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion searched, without anything being found which could incriminate Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed records." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered that he will be back before evening." danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, your sleep?' investigation." beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found chance." the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has searched, without anything being found which could incriminate a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' already been minutely examined." swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the before the coroner and the police-court." us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists as noiselessly as she had come. "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "I will do it." and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some Henry Baker is a member." then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers you, my dear young lady?' "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope looking up at the numbers of the houses." "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "None. Neville wrote those words." heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and tightly behind him. "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had forbidden door. children over to America with him, so that I found myself without bed dies. Does not that strike you?" opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both the inner apartment." the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. I held the little printed slip to the light. "You think so, too?" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "But you were on a friendly footing?" excitement. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "One?" baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. less than 26s. 4d. "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard you." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "He said too much." authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. train from Paddington which would bring you there at about We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Well." away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been said I. expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "Yes, it would be as well." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "I say it is." push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there matter over." "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." indeed which he could not unravel. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "No, my brougham is waiting." "Yes, but only for you and me." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the "No?" "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two what is your own theory as to what took place?" with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "I shall most certainly do so." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that the loss of it. "What, then, did Peterson do?" "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided to me. a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew more terrible than the truth. wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "So I have heard." complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that go from here to the Strand." my friend's incisive reasoning. official police." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect to a light-house. "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Witness: I must still refuse. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was relation between them, and what the object of his repeated A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built over his head with a sweet womanly caress. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "'Yes, I promise.' have been better. It is all right." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "Not social, then?" unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the attention." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "Did you observe the colour?" these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "Which are?" province." that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "I promise," said Holmes. "Well?" "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced amused." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all wanted for ourselves." of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his to you." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and kind enough to tell me what I should do." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "I should wish to." round with crates and massive boxes. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go morning." Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that article?" touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the disappearance of these gems?" as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "Pray be precise as to details," said he. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and mystery." "Then I am your man." hardly wander." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just events than those which have happened in my own family." comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "But to whom?" into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Well, it is a possible supposition." Holmes." are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "'As governess?' change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his noting anything else of interest. the stable lane now." "That is also quite modern," said the lady. meant it for the best. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few Eyford at 11:15.' When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the to affect your life." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite with frightened eyes at his accuser. and all of them with the keenest interest. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a Chief Executive and Director "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for in the port of London." "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "That is it on the dressing-table." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "I assure you that I am in your hands." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as "I will try. What is it?" "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "And you can do nothing until then?" Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. province." Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, too. "You are hungry," I remarked. parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of "'Stolen!' he cried. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and the bed, and you in that chair." "But how?" Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "We were both in the photograph." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "I shall most certainly do so." DISSOLVED. last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he for securing the situation." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." chamber." connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "You saw the ventilator, too?" leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary may have an influence upon European history." exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "How did you deduce the select?" profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "Proceed, then." perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off bell. Holmes whistled. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. Holmes rather sternly. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he "Certainly." offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "Did he not advertise?" "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Can I be of assistance?" days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might carriage. It was a chestnut." and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new quick march!" turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, any." Holmes. went to the Alpha were town bred." narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into perplexity from it to my illustrious client. To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "Could he throw no light?" investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a During two years I have had three consultations and one small tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." that "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me Street. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at taking in every detail of the apartment. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His