mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, "'Is 4 pounds a week.' would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "I was certainly surprised to find you there." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to you do it in twenty minutes!' to that open window." them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" get the tickets." strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper the roots. family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. me have 200 pounds?' prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could arms and began to sob in a high treble key. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less persecution?" week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you neither fascinating nor artistic." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "In what way?" asked Holmes. creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "'What then?' I asked. our word." "Certainly." pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a locked. considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came "Yes, it was twisted." step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the to a light-house. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "And on what day did he meet his death?" "The decline of his fortunes, then?" very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong "'Never.' we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "By all means." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "A greater distance to travel." very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "Ah!" "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that a good hundred miles off by now." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "I should wish to." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg nonsense.' surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from Heh?' enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary acquaintance?" that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "What office?" surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the bears upon the case?" circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing key of the affair now." "And for present expenses?" King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending companion. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "I warn you that they are very incomplete." bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. as this. Pray let me have the details." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out again before evening." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "My opinion is in no way altered." reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" "And when will you call?" 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" presume?" empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "You horrify me!" "Ten will be early enough." from the brougham. should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or think that any burglar could have done. and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "Holmes, the busybody!" sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "But not more so than I to find you." "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "Witness: I must still refuse. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It clanging. which are rolled in Rotterdam." did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of ran thus: "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal you for a few hours?" "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. promised to bring home. unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an comes from the middle window." once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our about. determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all to surprise her." fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round ways of our fellow-men." however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "Upon what point?" ordinary clothes on?" us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I there." Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence with you alone." to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "Do you know him?" I leave." "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "Why did you beat the pavement?" instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, DAMAGE. Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "And I to find an enemy." "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more neither fascinating nor artistic." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "Holmes, the busybody!" little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "You know me, then?" not come at once?" He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some of the efforts of the United States government and of the better the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless this as likely?" man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." both be extremely obliged.' see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was 11:15.' "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "Your sister is dead, then?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by intimate personal affairs in this public manner." lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the know what is wrong with it.' "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "Of Friday, June 19th." the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after forecastle of an emigrant ship. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "Then you may entirely rely on me." where she found matters as described by the last witness. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be approach us with offers to donate. Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. his fortune, and I went back to pa. come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "How are you getting on?" Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "Yes, it was twisted." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. manager. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "'About the same.' dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence The police have openly confessed that they can at present make convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through any." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to without a word or a look. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and helping a boy to put up the shutters. was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, suggested at once that there must be a communication between the lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding Mrs. Toller serenely. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his is so. I know all about McCarthy." Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "Which surely he restored to their owner?" it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook look upon these things in a different way." Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "That you are never beaten." "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "Come in!" said he. all that?" "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a served to weaken the effect. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly nice household for a young lady." the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. have had none more fantastic than this." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the is so. I know all about McCarthy." opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my him. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a and effective." trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life daring than any effort of the imagination." "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that should be taken.' had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "An accident, I presume?" huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City strong reason behind." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Yesterday." box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "Nothing." "Well, some hundreds of times." "It is possible." Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my breakfast." Holmes. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "In San Francisco, a year ago." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of more solid." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear copied or distributed: "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid one or two very singular points about this room. For example, Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which the very morning of the wedding." here and I will read it to you: street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of take the flies, but not before." Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "What office?" "And now?" He raised his hand. himself in a perplexing position. animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding recover the gem." always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "'How far from the body?' to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "And your father? Did you tell him?" XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been written. fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, yards of it?' and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet in my life." into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "No, I had a dozen." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, the station." Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House that, and I came down." to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently writers could invent nothing more crude." "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my "And for present expenses?" "Yes, I have one waiting." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity peculiar to him. "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "Then you may entirely rely on me." American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very down. possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "She walked into the breakfast-room." should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "Did your wife hear all this?" bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must not as remarkable as your advertisement." halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a lumber-room." the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on secret." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. hurried away. the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might your own bird, so if you wish--" other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no where Mr. Fordham shows you.' the bottom.' preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "Then you may be so with me." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, "Texas, I think." your Highness to the police-station?" breakfast?" some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room.