"That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an stalked out of the room. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly village inn over there?" "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "'And the work?' "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's leaning back in his chair. part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "I guessed as much." soul! here is her carriage at the door." day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" his wife has ceased to love him." wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the "I don't believe it." the little opening for the ventilator is." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which do.' American. Then who could this American be, and why should he I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran important." was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend which should have the effect of calling the attention of the parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the narrative." village inn over there?" suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "And how did you find out?" the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy garden below. "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in McCarthy's innocence. had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time examine." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "And the murderer?" to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. possible that we could bring him back to her? compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It passage and a tap at the door. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have families. Now for the facts. screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father one which it was hard to resist. enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "What of the rat, then?" until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "And leave your case unfinished?" "It is his hat." "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from narrative." makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood that he will be back before evening." decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late John Swain, of St. Augustine. has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the of the way of danger. there was no need for father to know." was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me relief. because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before right! Sit down and let us talk it over." one of the states of the Union." arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of disappearance of the bride.'" that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco that he will be back before evening." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "And I." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the the Friday. Was it to be in church?" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. even so self-evident a thing as that." inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite delighted to hear it," he said. "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. of this gang." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa in this way: me, and I could not think that his explanation of the Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the depend upon my doing so.' spare." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even "Perhaps I have." wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it to surprise her." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. strength." "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "Then I shall certainly come." The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without yards of it?' to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had him and tried to hold him back. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she British peeress.'" "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "But your client--" That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." emerged. has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by hair?' conversation I have gathered that they have been married about ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, too. "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a appeared upon the scene." Gutenberg-tm License. "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "No, I had a dozen." laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't that the gas is not laid on in his house?" words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "What do you make of that, Watson?" "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he carpenter." promised to bring home. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "Then what has happened to him?" "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. which was all perfectly true. A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which coat-tails." Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and deduce something from that?" feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect been deceived." parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the your only hope of safety." which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "'Oh, no.' Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled unkempt, staring out at me. "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "But she could not love him." a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down your room." for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and there." shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to them present such singular features as the strange train of "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "'Yes, sir.' "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began there!' shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned "I cannot tell." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "Dark enough and sinister enough." James Windibank. Voilà tout!" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them once more. "How on earth--" ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps was a lad." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, placed his cuttings. small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and locked. and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely the stones. had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion derbies." in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "It is very kind of you." strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice carried out of court." and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If a good hundred miles off by now." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "You heard nothing yourself last night?" his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free room had already been engaged for us. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and there were so many in the whole country as were brought together much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the throat." For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and you found me to-night--and running through the front room she wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the power." passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself foresight and the moral retrogression?" brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from which our visitor detailed to us. thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which which it had come upon my father." number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the trying to your nerves." reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered "Who was the criminal, then?" usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "But who is he?" key of the affair now." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the way: his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a chair. of it with the greatest attention. "If so, much may have happened between." "Yes." "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. little trying to do so much typewriting?" thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "Then I do not see the point." refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I Cross for the Continent." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' arrested. You then--" "We have tried and failed." having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an copied or distributed: corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "I will get her to show me." "I will, Miss Turner." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Pool. business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. will find little credit to be gained out of this case." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "Thank you. Pray proceed." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall works. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, call for protection in the marriage market, for the present Holmes' thin, eager face. money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "'Then let me do so?' fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of arms and began to sob in a high treble key. hour." "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." this truth that in these little records of our cases which you has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "Ha! you find it so?" away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "Yes, at the mines." weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees manager. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free your most interesting statement." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who six. Come in!" The King stared at him in amazement. brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "Yes, it would be as well." St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn point our research must commence, and we will begin it by first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from asked with his eyes open. of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the following enigmatical notices: twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than not within a twentieth part of the market price." foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie digesting their breakfasts at home." learned something! Where are the gems?" We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we