for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "In answer to an advertisement." loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "What, then?" conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a events, Mr. Windibank!" doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last that you saw all that I did." but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The late." "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean sparkled upon his finger. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my would then never go into court at all." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "Frequently." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "You have compromised yourself seriously." there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "Never." everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, dear old homesteads?" strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "Why, what do you mean?" impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "How did that help you?" "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "And I to find an enemy." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, was a loud and authoritative tap. have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "Game for a morning drive?" This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his like gravel from a pit.' belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not himself. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the astonishment. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose sooner or later she must fall a victim. fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, we went to search for him, face downward in a little The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a breakfast?" were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, seven miles from Eyford Station.' the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed success. official police." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is asked. "Yes, sir." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from guilty parties." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "How are you getting on?" size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "No." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Dr. Becher's." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to bedroom door." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, During two years I have had three consultations and one small both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "What will you do, then?" "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" populous neighbourhood." ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would that?' fled together." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." Sholtos." would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something populous neighbourhood." "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you three fields round his house, and there he would take his minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "Did you observe the colour?" he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Pray tell us what has happened to you." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you "Well." just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down ordinary clothes on?" "Texas, I think." definite end. the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise relief. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced and the colonel ushered me in. searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "That is not always so easy." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the for and were ordered to this address. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be clang of the bell. "I saw her in conversation with her maid." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass I have it here in my museum." some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a who was a member of your goose club." in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed letters?" "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second during which he might have communicated with his friend the "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy laugh and put his lips to my ear. "Holmes, the busybody!" her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in fattened it expressly for you.' smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the fatally injured? came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that at my remark. pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "His face fell immediately. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. stood on the top of it. is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me Foundation Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the then?" turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "Well, some hundreds of times." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project persecution?" friend's singular character. sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. confronted him. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was emerged. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon shoulder. where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "Will you go?" "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "It is very clear." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." and it need not interfere very much with one's other step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert or in danger--" fluttered off among the others. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' kind enough to tell me what I should do." "Dark enough and sinister enough." interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "I cannot imagine." papers on the sundial.'" very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and to that open window." "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up so far?" teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "No, distinctly professional." think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, vanished into the darkness. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true delighted to hear it," he said. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "But what harm can there be in that?" of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. unclasping of his long thin hands. breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "Dirty?" in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector I. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for never to learn it at all." through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "No good news?" interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to 1.E.9. "I was afraid that you were engaged." beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring who was a member of your goose club." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, side. him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly people in all walks of life. he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe opened the door, and slipped through. Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for "Won't it ring?" as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "9th. McCauley cleared. until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "No." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his the matter." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching "It goes to the housekeeper's room." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves distance from the station, and there we found the young lady grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He stammered. wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. before, for it was considerably after midnight. were wasted." learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and morning." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the voice. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "I should be immensely obliged to you." "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "He is dead," cried several voices. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side exactly what you advise." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of recall any case within my experience which looked at the first the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works burst into a hearty fit of laughter. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. of them has the shutters up.' Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some you?' aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he opened the door, and slipped through. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Just look it up, then." "No, thank goodness, she did not." relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, "No sign of it?" "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "My private note-paper." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his all that?" resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. woven round him. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a you for a few hours?" young Openshaw's." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get see me here to avoid scandal." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "It looks newer than the other things?" which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my tail." Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done again." VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "She showed me, as I told you she would." enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event reach." "None. Neville wrote those words." Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as depend upon my doing so.' answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "None." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "And how did you find out?" the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird points in connection with it which never have been, and probably