"Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. answer." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side one of the states of the Union." about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to breakfast and whispered something to her husband. have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, distance from the station, and there we found the young lady have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, flock.' layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at highroad, where all traces were lost. the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this own family. "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular room had already been engaged for us. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "The decline of his fortunes, then?" acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "Murdered?" "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "9th. McCauley cleared. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left him. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "By train from Waterloo." Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before my former friend and companion. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." daring than any effort of the imagination." "I have a cab outside." "What, then?" be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 returned to France?" But Holmes shook his head gravely. any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which other, as fresh and trim as possible. "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "I will, Miss Turner." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "What is it?" "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "Did your wife hear all this?" to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for murdered man." been lifted and conveyed somewhere." Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is strength." hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One Young McCarthy must be got off, however." deduce something from that?" 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way invisible to me," I remarked. ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense views." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls long narrative. "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "Come in!" said Holmes. get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting the bed, and you in that chair." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime way in." English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my discontent upon his features. "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was guilty parties." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "What is it?" of the efforts of the United States government and of the better for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower seen the man in the road." business came to an end." "What of the rat, then?" out of this horrible affair." "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with triumphant cloud from his cigarette. the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "You are certainly joking, Holmes." all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "I came to find a friend." and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "Yesterday." up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, ready to-morrow?' leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are Eyford." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a Sutherland. lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "'Yes, sir.' the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "I fear not." only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the The telegram which we eventually received came late one night the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "Yes, he did." "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the hour." fear." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "What will you do, then?" her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round fuss that is made over them." gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "I will do it." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "But she could not love him." constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right friend's singular character. bears upon the case?" made his money." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "Then I can wait in the next room." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him detained." friend's singular character. "At half-wages, in fact." that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a bled considerably." morning." Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face attention." coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, details should find their way into the papers. Inspector erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already appointment with me for six o'clock?" The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be confronted him. tear off another piece?' secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. father's young wife. the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Married! When?" should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "What, then?" all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this observed. daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "Seven!" I answered. result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and hopeless attempt at recovering them." after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling into the bag, and made for the door. teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as forecastle of an emigrant ship. night.' said he. prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "It is possible." trifles." better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." conceal it?" highroad, where all traces were lost. should be taken.' hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking get the tickets." window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "She will not sell." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he the station." from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in his fortune, and I went back to pa. "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would bird of prey. "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." introspective fashion. voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he III. with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" http://www.gutenberg.net force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my minor matters until to-morrow." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement not, dad?" she asked. "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. gbnewby@pglaf.org lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than these bleak autumnal evenings." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a extraordinary contortions. salesman. allusion to a rat. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "Yes, certainly." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "And your father? Did you tell him?" passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally comes from the middle window." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these clanging. reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I said he, "my real name is James Ryder." I nodded to show that I had heard. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction means taking possession of that which another person has a prior from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' away to you." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "The King of Scandinavia." particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a been able to understand it, in a very few words. Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would from you?" faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived strength in the others." "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the everything which you would wish to know." into the bag, and made for the door. crime. "But we can't all be." upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "This photograph!" "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the back alive. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "He is still with you, I presume?" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. you came in." locked." charged with?" connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six front of the hall door has given its name to the place. acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a already been minutely examined." "So it appears." sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel forehead. shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "But his left-handedness." grasp, he hurried from the room. them?" southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first rat could hardly pass through." black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "Yesterday." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what your most interesting statement." push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but happened." and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY would apply.' and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had troubles have been weighing upon his mind. I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that the very morning of the wedding." A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do think you a quite exceptional woman." pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if Gutenberg-tm License. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when "I know where it is." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt breakfast?" her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of "Certainly." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." ourselves in the office." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through that you wished to speak to me?' acted in my house last night?" some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "My own seal." was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "Frequently." "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy