"This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which will be renamed. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors fasten all the windows?" I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the before, for it was considerably after midnight. The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little examination of the premises, but without finding anything which arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "It is half-past ten now." "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "But how will you look?" thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never bill, which interests me deeply." "No. His orders were to stay in the house." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his the child." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "My opinion is in no way altered." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "'As governess?' never to learn it at all." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and bled considerably." crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "What will you say?" Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing minor matters until to-morrow." hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither when your master had gone out." I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Did you become engaged then?" the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money "Entirely." soul! here is her carriage at the door." "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "Did he not advertise?" soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are suddenly upon us." be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I married her." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and gives a meaning to it." straighten it?" imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this the little opening for the ventilator is." neither fascinating nor artistic." rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a the ceiling. X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from gone. herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "I am still in the dark." mystery!" her also." minor matters until to-morrow." events than those which have happened in my own family." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but had formerly been in part my own. but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. new acquaintance to Baker Street. I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "'Which dealer's?' just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, them?" winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin himself in a perplexing position. Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "You were travelling in the States?" Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "Not social, then?" "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel closing the door. whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "In the cells." with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great appeal." Eyford." wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us my special province." "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the writers could invent nothing more crude." and I shall be with you presently." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked this as likely?" You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "But you were on a friendly footing?" through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of him. takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I information in his hands the value of which he did not himself of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds present strange and interesting features that it is no easy remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in peculiar to him. married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was certainly do as you advise." "He said too much." "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Serpentine Avenue. already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked be there in time for your coming." you." reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "That also I could fathom." returned to France?" you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your nothing with him." matter." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked of note-paper. It read in this fashion: from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "'Ample.' and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" records." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "She told me to ask you." for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can Street. "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "Yes, from Horsham." in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at is," said he presently: dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "How did that help you?" "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is call you and give you the chance." I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my train.' question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and instituted." wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "Certainly." said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money neither fascinating nor artistic." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared ordinary clothes on?" tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you presume?" "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "'Which dealer's?' "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned Lee, in the county of Kent." others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a lids now and glanced across at his visitor. inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their back alive. see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have Chief Executive and Director one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." lips." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is straighten it?" bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had Leadenhall Street--and--" "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I John Swain, of St. Augustine. cigars in the box." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "This photograph!" without a word or a look. this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin this man was intellectual?" had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." carried out of court." "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his your Highness to the police-station?" lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "I am about to be married." one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and the coronet in his hand?" myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of of fine shops and stately business premises that they really which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "Will you go?" advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "On the contrary, this is the right side." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." suspect him." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "There is the writing." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "It is his hat." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a noble correspondent could be. amused." low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "What shall I do?" As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Will you go?" as yours." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall of." tapping his fingers upon the table. abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those said he, "my real name is James Ryder." for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "My dear Holmes!" then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each hurried away. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "'What then?' I asked. compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that that the gas is not laid on in his house?" who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "And why?" the south-west, I see." fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice tightly behind him. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "Well, it is a possible supposition." It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a This is what he says: to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "Yes, sir." "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are felt the room to be a little close.' nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. like gravel from a pit.' in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless chance." eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "You horrify me." extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly fashion which was peculiar to him. light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, speckled band?" "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like lumber-room." the iron safe, which he closed upon it. his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice the Red-headed League." "Who was the criminal, then?" "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be foresight and the moral retrogression?" considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. three fields round his house, and there he would take his platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an mystery." "From his hat?" and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds "Certainly." and the church but not where the lady lived." firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has entirely devoid of interest." "'Never,' said I. Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and upon the white wrist. "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such DAMAGE. the address that was given us in the advertisement. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own where Mr. Fordham shows you.' yet." deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; derbies." is," said he presently: and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out read it out to me." dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an is now desirous of getting those letters back." find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story do you make of it all?" which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City fait accompli?" Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the said I. the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a directly by questioning you." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny humiliation." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "I would give my fortune to have them back." and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be