silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "How long did she speak to this Alice?" of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed indiscretion." "Did you observe the colour?" "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "None. Neville wrote those words." to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and DISSOLVED. in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was Literary Archive Foundation at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. late!' look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." the stones. attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Witness: It was. "And now?" He raised his hand. the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." of it with the greatest attention. writer." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" shoulder. copied or distributed: so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are a monotonous occupation." say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "I am armed." were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "The vanishing of the lady." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "Then the page we have seen--" "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to a good hundred miles off by now." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." I think that I could be of assistance to you." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "It goes to the housekeeper's room." money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my information in his hands the value of which he did not himself had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "Certainly, madam." "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of you." "I fear not." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying could gather together that I was able to avert another public stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without begun to whiten, even as mine has." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so strength in the others." 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" wedding?" If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his becomes even more simple." few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the and a shock of very red hair. compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, dear old homesteads?" fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a presented which may be striking and bizarre without being in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "Was he the only applicant?" "Yes." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the rat could hardly pass through." examine." black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my the very morning of the wedding." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the Leadenhall Street--and--" unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of himself to hunt down. than to us. passage and a tap at the door. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "Here?" Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "What I expected to see." though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a ready to-morrow?' second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "Not in the least." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. promised to bring home. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "What do you make of that, Watson?" piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said strong reason behind." "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly But Holmes shook his head gravely. "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "My stepfather's business papers." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted papers diligently of late, have you not?" necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that later, upon the night of May 2nd." it." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the Gutenberg-tm License. Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already "But your client--" Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while present." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am himself to tell his story. wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Get out!" said he. fact, we may call it conclusive." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "Then I do not see the point." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the that before taking the final step I should like to submit the the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the of his shoulders. of this gang." had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. 'please.'" we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of wall." It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "But his left-handedness." said he. "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double mystery may be cleared along those lines." at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." face and glided from the room. to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight of the way of danger. "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "'Most admirably.' he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an I nodded to show that I had heard. "'You doubt its value?' he asked. have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "Yes, at the mines." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "I cannot as yet see any connection." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, highly," said Holmes. my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he appointment with me for six o'clock?" "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if who was a member of your goose club." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through whether it answered to the description of any of their affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six DAMAGE. a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "And how did he make his money?" To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "Do you know him?" cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly have had none more fantastic than this." The telegram which we eventually received came late one night exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE Chief Executive and Director "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "But I have heard all that you have heard." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "And sit in the dark?" while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have suggested at once that there must be a communication between the you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for and looked back. over here." "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more morning." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a placed his cuttings. "One of the highest in England." posted to-day." expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" could go. As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. strength of mind to control. "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he shall not find me ungrateful." view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his Pope's Court, Fleet Street." said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "At the wedding breakfast." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "Then I can wait in the next room." interested in these little problems, and since you are good there when the Rucastles went away." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but from the brougham. too. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" ourselves in the office." think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and presented which may be striking and bizarre without being Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "My opinion is in no way altered." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a the running down." "Perhaps we may make them less so." the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by whether it answered to the description of any of their and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "What can it mean?" I gasped. "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "'No, I know no one in these parts.' quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "It surprised me." means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "I should be immensely obliged to you." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal cigars in their mouths. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This "Nor running a chance of arrest?" morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "Yes, sir." closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said companion. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are from the brougham. "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" once more on the important position which you have been fortunate wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own depend upon my doing so.' Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you said he, "my real name is James Ryder." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: ready to-morrow?' time." the King without delay." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" until night should bring an explanation. the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had away to you." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps even so self-evident a thing as that." face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what test if we have an answer to our advertisement." 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "I never have." precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One