puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down acquaintance?" little trying to do so much typewriting?" "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "Will you go?" which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite tension within him. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into I. parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "'It is locked up,' I answered. "What! a murderous attack?" "I was sure that I might rely on you." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him legal crime." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I right! Sit down and let us talk it over." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "I shall be delighted." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "But to whom?" "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had that I can to serve you." Holmes. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body behind me. were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are the station." looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "And how did you verify them?" "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of directly by questioning you." The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said indiscretion." Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and bedroom door." every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "I came to find a friend." married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, used to be." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "Come in!" said Holmes. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "Who by?" the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very carpenter." more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite me, and I could not think that his explanation of the words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "They are typewritten," I remarked. The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet other means.' lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The fat-encircled eyes. "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "But I have heard all that you have heard." desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may Cross for the Continent." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all your equipment. believe that I should never have any practice at all. temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "Certainly." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "Where did he live, then?" general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that there was no need for father to know." together. attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." taking in every detail of the apartment. "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I derbies." Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project signal between you and your father? "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "Deserted you?" the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "Yes, they were peculiar boots." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture outbreak?" unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be quickly through a disagreeable task. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "Yes, but only for you and me." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, to-morrow." "I think it very unlikely." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent in your London, you will know that the office of the company is his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his families. Now for the facts. fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" business matters.' "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "Was he the only applicant?" A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting pity, because in other respects you would really have done very in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. DAMAGE. "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "Then how many are there?" let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered you understand?" paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every it." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. "I will do it." "Did you become engaged then?" very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "No, I had a dozen." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's some terrible trap for her." late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "I have solved it." states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are know all about it," he snarled. could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able with the outside air!" He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "What office?" light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the had no one to advise her at such a crisis." It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off recover the gem." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my that he has suffered." "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It strength in the others." Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. easy-going way." cigars in their mouths. "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which not fit the lock." without a word or a look. the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his name is different." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "How did you deduce the select?" "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any presented more singular features than that which was associated over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "It is true that I have been generally successful." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "'What do you call purely nominal?' in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "Yes, it would be as well." "To the police?" "'Where could I find him?' no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "Yes, only one." stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "She showed me, as I told you she would." "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she cup of tea. yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both the King without delay." familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily south, for the country is more deserted there." this remarkable episode. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a the so-precious time, but come!' I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. the window, rose as we entered. "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the coroner's jury." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "I answered that I had not. possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really to where he stood hid behind the curtain. Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "That sounds a little paradoxical." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the "Yes." returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the to surprise her." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and remarked. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing highroad, where all traces were lost. "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him Sutherland. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his the stones. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely society." not come at once?" But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you business." there in twenty minutes." "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "You will not go there first?" carriage. It was a chestnut." "And why in hopes?" together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it the one as in the other." we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. chance at all." dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly paper in the air. down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "You are hungry," I remarked. face and glided from the room. upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be locked." and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "How long did she speak to this Alice?" I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "And Miss Sutherland?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' of the way of danger. "Was there a secret marriage?" Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "My dear Holmes!" I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would in darkness. "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he "I came to find a friend." "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "Did he not advertise?" "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily instincts rose up against that laugh. afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "In heaven's name, what for?" and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "I will, Miss Turner." "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an him. "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "She told me to ask you." writer." "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether undoubtedly my uncle's." step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "Precisely." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was eavesdroppers?' my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "But how did you gain them?" absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. "Pray do so." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he