platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an weighed down with some great anxiety. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged had this final quarrel? Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "Your presence might be invaluable." back to my heart. this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of tapping his fingers upon the table. tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send be there in time for your coming." to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "Can I be of assistance?" this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the hands. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "I warn you that they are very incomplete." than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Really! You surprise me." weary and pale-looking. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at records." have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in conversation I have gathered that they have been married about Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the read over the extraordinary announcement. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of triumphant cloud from his cigarette. to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging was used.' train.' him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me straightened it out again. he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, up this clue while it is still hot." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the to a light-house. you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to characteristics, but those are the more obvious." Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at sound at heart." room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we money should be paid at once.' estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a I nodded to show that I had heard. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She means taking possession of that which another person has a prior informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." charged with?" friend's singular character. here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. to miss it." "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here I held the little printed slip to the light. brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" father's place of business?" fluttered off among the others. that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "She will not sell." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "'And the work?' companion quietly. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, charge against him will break down." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "He slept on the premises." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be Arthur Conan Doyle attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But that I can to serve you." the loss of it. the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that into her hand at the door and which lured her within their Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the way in." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his few hundred pounds.' part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I from the brougham. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" you want, then?' wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant breakfast?" vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a "Did you observe the colour?" "You are hungry," I remarked. better grown goose." "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Who by?" laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "I am to be neutral?" call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "And your father? Did you tell him?" be. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "I guessed as much." call the police, let the police find what they can.' "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the that I can to serve you." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had lost his Christmas dinner." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "What shall I do?" to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "And now?" I asked. dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. and put his glass in his pocket. of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "And when will you call?" he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Nothing?" on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked McCarthy." column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must information in his hands the value of which he did not himself have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite beyond words. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "'Yes, sir.' "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some where we are going." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. you give your casting vote to?" she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "Dirty?" blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "It is a murder, then?" at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of there is a decided draught." though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive way: "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My morning." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "Of Friday, June 19th." "'What would be the hours?' I asked. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly interests were the same as his." said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right shall not find me ungrateful." that he will be back before evening." is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." whole matter to your consideration." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which III. red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Perfectly so." of the one which your family is now devouring." "An accident, I presume?" The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great might have a private word with us. Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every "But you can know nothing of this?" opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found felt?" "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall skylight. I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. you." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "At half-wages, in fact." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for do." "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am figure." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the me where it went to?" "A thing like a cleaver," said he. for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It he. family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "My dear Holmes!" really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "I will, Miss Turner." but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "And now?" I asked. edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my guilty parties." that there was nothing in it, after all." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "I see no marks." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "I fear not." made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. to have been novel and of interest." this as likely?" and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of must be when I saw the door open.' "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then go--none." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "My own seal." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "If so, much may have happened between." undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, are, I think, all that we need." Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it there in twenty minutes." The King stared at him in amazement. pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you imbecility!" he cried. "Yes." has little to do with my story." been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." appeal." been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an forehead. of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on guilty one." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small as noiselessly as she had come. have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable tied." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all just ask you whether you had heard it.' Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "'I have already given you my word.' bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "What office?" us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were it." "When did it break out?" it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before "But she could not love him." "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you "Awake, Watson?" he asked. child?' he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the "'And what are they worth?' I asked. me, and I could not think that his explanation of the of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET be there in time for your coming." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into purpose of examination. the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and nothing of it?" "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "That was it, sir." first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing fluttered off among the others. qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still some city in a dream. remarked. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly with some details as to your case." time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "I was mad--insane." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my "Did you observe the colour?" away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." one of them." which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been bore every mark of being an average commonplace British be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the examine." "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the are, I think, all that we need." I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of the Red-headed League." "'Tell me all about it,' said I. appointment with me for six o'clock?" the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something back into the street. "It goes to the housekeeper's room." found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A developed." pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "But we can't all be." residence of the great financier. that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently humiliation." conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a the one as in the other." It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still affection." to-morrow." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but look upon these things in a different way." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist guilty one." his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the "And that is--" Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive