fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a here and I will read it to you: which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "You think that he is dead?" waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "'Stolen!' he cried. strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "No?" It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote anything to a woman, for she would have her way." do." "Certainly." relation between them, and what the object of his repeated "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed success. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called at my own good fortune. cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "None." on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle "Not social, then?" other means.' and have this put in the evening papers." which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this very old mansion. seven miles from Eyford Station.' would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's companion. keep the flames under. and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he strange features which were associated with the two crimes which electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days several quiet little villages up there." "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we opened the door, and slipped through. time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present best detective that ever lived. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the in your London, you will know that the office of the company is pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in heavily into it. of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman was the fact that his father should, according to his account, Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "In what way?" asked Holmes. you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. away to you." habit of advancing money.' "But how?" hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That just called myself is not exactly my own." of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at him to be an active member of the medical profession." the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point this remarkable episode. face and glided from the room. prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "Where did he live, then?" admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope back to my heart. hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "There is the writing." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "We must sit without light. He would see it through the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "'Yes, it was gone.' than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "We were both in the photograph." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress The note was undated, and without either signature or address. his face which made him a very different person to the round, "I have a cab outside." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything it were putty." "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "'What then?' I asked. "Yes, he did." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." have an American origin." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off man. spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "But what harm can there be in that?" against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons straighten it?" to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked such attractions and accomplishments?' "Absolutely none." We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "Quite so." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." future lives." business." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "'Certainly,' I answered. the tragedy. Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the furiously. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all the general public were present, then?" "By all means." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent carried out of court." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been young Openshaw's." ourselves in the office." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Sutherland. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a fuss that is made over them." orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. been." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I anything to do with the matter?" earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some quickly through a disagreeable task. I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "On your arm?" have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and light and attacked it." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "We must have a cab." everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried spark where all is dark to me." I think that I could be of assistance to you." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "Was he the only applicant?" confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and locked." ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "Look there!" said he. he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, eat it." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "How many? I don't know." about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark breakfast?" "Your presence might be invaluable." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "And your mother is alive?" had a long day." drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes habit of advancing money.' cheerful." Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger mysterious end." hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them memory. woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the fait accompli?" "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed that you saw all that I did." It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "'I have already given you my word.' round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." man. unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "But I am all in the dark." will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "Yes, the wine-cellar." "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since morning." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their instincts rose up against that laugh. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm was it brought him the coronet? bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "But not more so than I to find you." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a wedding?" of note-paper. It read in this fashion: he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he hard-headed British jury." Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to she to prove their authenticity?" "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some McCarthy." would then never go into court at all." glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore him to be an active member of the medical profession." Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, beg that you will break it off." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner then?" have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's that he will be back before evening." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed really the only notable feature about the thing." "Where, then?" "'What are you doing there?' he asked. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that the so-precious time, but come!' suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little will he say when he returns?" shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "Only as much as we can deduce." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I fire. You quite follow me?" visitors." called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass shoulder; "he's all right." "Awake, Watson?" he asked. success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "Do you know him?" "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, your co-operation." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "Thank you. Pray proceed." not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, You want to know what became of those geese?" matter over." we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which go--none." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over your troubles." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would directors, with the result that you have seen." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" strode off upon his way. fashion which was peculiar to him. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "'Yes, sir.' "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and companion. "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then have not had my rubber." "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet be.' platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you presume?" "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat said I. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but one else, I think." the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone "That sounds a little paradoxical." 'please.'" low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "But you were on a friendly footing?" difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were the south-west, I see." away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought extraordinary contortions. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it "Very murderous indeed." very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "Ten will be early enough." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up papers diligently of late, have you not?" deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "You horrify me." Eyford at 11:15.' twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes letters?" the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. and capable of preserving a secret.' "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "I shall be delighted." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of was a lad." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now it means?" description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the business." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," at my remark. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without once more for Briony Lodge. the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the before the coroner and the police-court." correct than the official force." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "That is easily got." "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that