something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the Countess of Morcar's?" again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one I. warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "Quite so." "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few straighten it?" stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, roused himself from his reverie. to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in together. the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last lips." clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can fatally injured? daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "And you don't know his address?" "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too rooms." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, window when the police appeared." not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally that you wished to speak to me?' Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "Whose house is it?" The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "That is it on the dressing-table." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "What I expected to see." to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or client, rising. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly as noiselessly as she had come. The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner his cane at the bell-pull. "Why? What do you mean?" that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he open." the south-west, I see." touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in to have that photograph." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." situation." "You have a clue?" keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have the so-precious time, but come!' season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own "That also I could fathom." "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, hard-headed British jury." contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "I was certainly surprised to find you there." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter husband's writing, madam." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make taking in every detail of the apartment. condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "Nearly eleven." I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "That is unusual in a young girl." us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled upon the sideboard." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so sufficient punishment." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them should be so warm over such a trifle." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, what I may call a really hard day's work." who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks bearing upon the case." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own bonnet, and went out." SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any was keenly on my guard against him. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner signal between you and your father? Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking gives a meaning to it." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it highly," said Holmes. fluttered off among the others. anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "I should be immensely obliged to you." "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "Could he throw no light?" "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised fled together." "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore is four-and-twenty." "Of Friday, June 19th." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "One of the highest in England." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have get her out of the way." my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, will he say when he returns?" has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Watson," he said cordially. envelope. rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. way in." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running direction." step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of too. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for definite end. sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, your room." companion. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need to his chemical studies. branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a I shall communicate with you." flock.' inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge written. DAMAGE. present." accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called gbnewby@pglaf.org usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his know that the truth is known." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, bore every mark of being an average commonplace British of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, spare." doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "Oh, yes, easily." Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "'Yes, it was gone.' tension within him. grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite wife's character?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "Yes, only one." then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your client, rising. at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Mrs. Toller serenely. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and enter into my head. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "'Ten to two.' charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "Yes." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," that?' Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled charge against him will break down." for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that my little problems." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster respectable self." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a fish-monger and a tide-waiter." With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "On your arm?" occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in "The doctor?" the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have the bed, and you in that chair." more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who walking." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune letters?" "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. chance at all." hands. occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of generous with you in money matters.' given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the The note was undated, and without either signature or address. and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the have not had my rubber." He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, events than those which have happened in my own family." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is clanging. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "Holmes, the busybody!" have established a very serious case against the son of the stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "And I." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, McCarthy's innocence. "By train from Waterloo." do.' are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself crime. firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "Yes?" would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "I promise," said Holmes. right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am meanly of me." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton been shamefully used." what I may call a really hard day's work." "Come in!" said he. "'Oh, no.' directors have had misgivings upon the subject." went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. if she died from some sudden fright." anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he assist you in forming an opinion." address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she deduce something from that?" stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "My opinion is in no way altered." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from had no one to advise her at such a crisis." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not over with notes and figures. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was or other trace. But how on earth--" glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "'Yes, I promise.' the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, clanging. corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely James Windibank. Voilà tout!" resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "'Stolen!' he cried. overpowering excitement and concern. my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in residence of the great financier. your equipment. week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I made him keep the appointment." until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "What then?" were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. foot. the matter." visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how drove away. Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "What is it, then--a fire?" "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our the room while you explain this matter?" the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "'Most admirably.' in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "How can you tell that?" that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." drawing your inferences." "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "Yes." hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any Mrs. Toller serenely. direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The bore every mark of being an average commonplace British rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "Ah, but I was recommended to you." and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept the devil!" present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "'How far from the body?' them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always cost them two and thirty pounds." address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "But you can know nothing of this?" unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness geese which you supplied to the Alpha." exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue evidence," I remarked. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "I do." "Well, some hundreds of times." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "What steps will you take?" I asked. good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the Holmes. protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in without a word or a look. believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "'I have heard so.' broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. that he has suffered." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "What have you to say now?" wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon."