sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, not interfere, come what may. You understand?" eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his of them has the shutters up.' the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, house for five minutes.' "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that http://www.gutenberg.net be best to do. with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" whatever might befall. broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "It is his hat." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which ways including including checks, online payments and credit card the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. asked. particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with know what is wrong with it.' "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "I am sure." the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. of his shoulders. over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which furiously. "'Never,' said I. Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "By no means." him nearly every evening." shall use the carriage to-night." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down thin legs towards the fire. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then "He is still with you, I presume?" of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp that you saw all that I did." of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. quite distinctive." "Well." "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' like gravel from a pit.' one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "Yesterday." little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, as he remarks, very much against the son." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of of it with the greatest attention. two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum me have 200 pounds?' stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular and it need not interfere very much with one's other woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to carried out of court." the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as stalked out of the room. excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "And how in the world did you find them?" that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "And who is her maid?" distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "You forget that I know nothing about it." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "What will you do, then?" this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" the address that was given us in the advertisement. heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in here." thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian discontent upon his features. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face your troubles." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "My photograph." "Is he quiet?" examination of the premises, but without finding anything which promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! or other trace. But how on earth--" discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "Your French gold?" inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added guilty parties." "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, interested in these little problems, and since you are good came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the Henry Baker is a member." the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell this Miss Turner." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent excitement. engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg subject to the trademark license, especially commercial peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "Is he quiet?" past. had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. past. struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "Because he was handy and would come cheap." in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in manager. soul! here is her carriage at the door." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. strength." The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on strength in the others." in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the I took the paper from him and read as follows: near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg was shining brightly. "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a touch that coronet?' lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "You have carte blanche." passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not where she found matters as described by the last witness. gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by my special province." journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous Where does the thing come from?' luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left papers must be those that are destroyed.' not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "I am following you closely," I answered. "I never have." "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, them, and came down just as you departed. there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: outside." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I him nearly every evening." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I sufficient punishment." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. you for a few hours?" "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, pound a week." The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "Never to return." and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." Countess of Morcar's?" the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every the iron safe, which he closed upon it. "What! Had he lost his wife?" way in everything. indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by any." "Not him." "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box your only hope of safety." "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' pressing in one house as in another. Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "I answered that I had not. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! DAMAGE. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the fled together." that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour you, my dear young lady?' Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A Holmes' thin, eager face. was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "It goes to the housekeeper's room." you." "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with During two years I have had three consultations and one small "By no means." a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect to that open window." in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that carried out of court." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "Oh, yes, easily." Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as them?" he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the date of his supposed suicide." that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "One of the highest in England." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, companion imperturbably. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "Was the window open?" "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it point in the dark hollow of his hand. your most interesting statement." "Yes, at the mines." chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! me where it went to?" copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from wedding?" have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done jewels which you have stolen?' "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at in your London, you will know that the office of the company is ordinary clothes on?" natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "'Yes.' away into the river." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of colour had been driven from his face. him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to maiden herself was most instructive." therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's the warnings." years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is voice, changing her seat as requested. ashen face. the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "I think that I had better go, Holmes." had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and his knees, staring into the fire. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "She told me to ask you." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A is four-and-twenty." demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "On Monday." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "Nothing." as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If answer." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds together. "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you presented more singular features than that which was associated upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Well?" at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular be. many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a interests were the same as his." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, you?' down in his armchair and closing his eyes. made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the and that he would see to anything that turned up. obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I opportunities to fix the problem. struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "Very murderous indeed." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "Well, it is a possible supposition." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, back to my heart. time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "And I say east," said my patient. when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than you do it in twenty minutes!' disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred