slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "What shall I do?" lamp in his hand. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "'Certainly not. But why?' saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE Does that suggest anything?" broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, to a more successful conclusion." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small what these perils are?" IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but yet." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "What! You do not mean bodies?" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "The landlord of the Alpha." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, in the dead of the night?' brandy and water within his reach. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" the morning and make my own way in the world.' "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "I cannot think." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "And now?" He raised his hand. to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its of receipt of the work. "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some you." walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "'Ample.' redistribution. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his of them has the shutters up.' this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it in the hope of finding them." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "Well?" "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "What! You do not mean bodies?" important." entirely lost his self-respect." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "My dear Holmes!" to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor had this final quarrel? "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "I say that I have solved it." tapping his fingers upon the table. "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "Quite so. She has her freedom." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. cause to be." last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" tell him that I know him to be innocent." behind me. "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "When did it break out?" future lives." some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike carriage. It was a chestnut." practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the he. companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question that he has suffered." '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you Holmes' room. abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those that before taking the final step I should like to submit the of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "I am about to be married." and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my married her." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is seem to you to be relevant or not." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say it." finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was you understand?" lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as main points of my analysis." during the last few years, and there are many noble families to questioning and rather startled gaze. space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "What can it mean?" I gasped. mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing you do it in twenty minutes!' Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our future lives." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "I cannot tell." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed thin legs towards the fire. Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her ill-usage at the hands of fortune. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and in a very precise fashion." WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching information in his hands the value of which he did not himself Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to his grey eyes. the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "By all means." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "'About the same.' the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "But his left-handedness." At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "Thank you. And your address?" upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door man. I know him from the photograph." and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would whereabouts. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons outsides of the windows. an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and once more to my work. during that time.' "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his whether it answered to the description of any of their The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "The knees of his trousers." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes brought there to personate someone, and the real person is hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we of a light. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources the armchair which I pushed forward for him. are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself fluttered off among the others. on re-entering her father's house?" doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers me what he had done with the three missing stones. at my own good fortune. reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and straightened it out again. gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know became a certainty. there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become bachelor.' to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "Is he quiet?" "You'll never persuade me to believe that." piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am you in yours." kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward events, Mr. Windibank!" past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "It is true that I have been generally successful." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "What! Had he lost his wife?" for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a that you saw all that I did." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do the general public were present, then?" dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine something of him before." "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and Dr. Gregory B. Newby affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." bird of prey. branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a there." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with back into the street. lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "In San Francisco, a year ago." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers tell me that you intended to go into harness." so.' sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP always that they were such commands as a lady might with someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not looking up at the numbers of the houses." which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was fear." upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "It is solved." deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would "I should be immensely obliged to you." "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. http://www.gutenberg.net however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with to where he stood hid behind the curtain. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, the window, rose as we entered. and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little Street. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when the little opening for the ventilator is." "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have made his money." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it narrative." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," your equipment. Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" "My private note-paper." the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It their singular warning or token before them when starting upon society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a Count Von Kramm." He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "'Ten to two.' and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an the morning and make my own way in the world.' going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I wife's character?" the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in keep the flames under. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there States. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes ashen face. "Seven!" I answered. reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' own family. to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself "What can you not understand?" conversation I have gathered that they have been married about to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of Street. liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his there!' "But she could not love him." however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A noise which awoke you from your sleep?" deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; very morning of my second wedding." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is minor matters until to-morrow." quick march!" want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "My dear Holmes!" "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which I think that I could be of assistance to you." felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not daring than any effort of the imagination." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she wedding?" shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes.