"'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "What have you done?" asked Holmes. deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another assist you in forming an opinion." "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the people don't know." "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "What shall I do?" "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "What will you do, then?" keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "No. What a strange idea!" "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "Then what has happened to him?" said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "Game for a morning drive?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his has little to do with my story." refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "It looks newer than the other things?" "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and been shamefully used." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this sake, don't!" William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong room?" rooms." she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the will take you up to see the machine.' "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature Arthur Conan Doyle dear old homesteads?" "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The at once, for I have only half an hour." trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. most interesting one." may never be exposed to such a temptation." "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? shall not find me ungrateful." LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal the armchair which I pushed forward for him. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our hurried away. he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture manager. "Where, indeed?" any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "How did you trace it, then?" laugh and put his lips to my ear. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." thirty. wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "So I have heard." for securing the situation." "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I to take care of herself." explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "How often?" contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." already been minutely examined." Sholtos." "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But nonsense.' in his power. which I could not give. He asked for Alice. cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that will be renamed. but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. depend upon my doing so.' "I would pay ten." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "Come in!" said he. reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong status with the IRS. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward one of the states of the Union." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and present." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "You are hungry," I remarked. avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was 1.E.9. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, were new raised from a basin. base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the business at Coburg Square is serious." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was remarked. The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of shall not find me ungrateful." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. other, as fresh and trim as possible. of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At over his head with a sweet womanly caress. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "So I heard. You have him here?" tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "My dear Holmes!" "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some hard-headed British jury." from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "'Is 4 pounds a week.' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case III. earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom as this. Pray let me have the details." round with crates and massive boxes. heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some you, my dear young lady?' what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for hand, madam?" desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece tail." of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his to a light-house. "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our answered with a sidelong glance. cigars in the box." particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my brandy and water within his reach. in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very were new raised from a basin. was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing been anything against him. He had for years been known as a you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is south, for the country is more deserted there." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the frequently gained my first real insight into the character of the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "'Most admirably.' more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must congenial hunt. impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." directly by questioning you." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "And what did you see?" through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Where did you address your letters, then?" "I never have." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. despair." friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the was shining brightly. without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be do." us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am becomes even more simple." company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a quick march!" knowledge of the world." "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "And now?" I asked. It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "It's nothing of the kind." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have have one." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in used to be." what these perils are?" "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn then?" "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the during that time.' "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had them present such singular features as the strange train of blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences people don't know." time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "And you can do nothing until then?" five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "Your sister is dead, then?" At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear to-night?" I asked. do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be photograph?" of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "I should like to see him very much." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure a suggestive one." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "You have it, sir, just as it happened." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be fait accompli?" "'What would be the hours?' I asked. planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "Was she in good spirits?" hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "But what will you do?" really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and Countess of Morcar's?" "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass with some details as to your case." pictures, libraries, or plate. his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his of your young ladies.' was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I something of him before." was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the "No." where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "By all means." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important I nodded to show that I had heard. "By all means." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you you understand?" Holmes. "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "I have a cab outside." The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "Was she in good spirits?" In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were his knees, staring into the fire. them?" "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. there in twenty minutes." daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with question," said Holmes, smiling. him to go away.' with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." examine." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was ran thus: matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "I say that I have solved it." "Indeed! Whose, then?" "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 was used.' behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three this truth that in these little records of our cases which you be best to do. hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "Game for a morning drive?" nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both business came to an end." blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" interested in these little problems, and since you are good unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous name is different." next day. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent and put his glass in his pocket. Sutherland. endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A