garden below. "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "Was the window open?" money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is had a long day." at my remark. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort to miss it." this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended families. Now for the facts. that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are simple cases which are so extremely difficult." tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had I leave." "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "And now?" He raised his hand. face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he footfalls from the street. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon guilty parties." "No. What a strange idea!" constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "What will you do, then?" down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My a monotonous occupation." reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about way in everything. abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded drawing your inferences." "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! gigantic client. taking in every detail of the apartment. kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "My photograph." really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" feature." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the have I gained?" shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "'What, the red-headed man?' "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "I have hopes." the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. once more on the important position which you have been fortunate of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, article?" "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "Yes." instituted." always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "Where did he live, then?" "And for present expenses?" bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "Yes." "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to he. wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "He is still with you, I presume?" speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no me where it went to?" remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King 1.E.9. hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "Yes." a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, grasp, he hurried from the room. "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the extraordinary contortions. But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "What will you do, then?" railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "'I am sure if I had known--' Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "I say that I have solved it." "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it plantation.' "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who had picked up in the wood. "Then I am your man." Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me photograph?" and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which key turn in the lock." from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are future lives." most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, approach us with offers to donate. was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." might help us?" the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his The police have openly confessed that they can at present make of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which leaning back in his chair. directly by questioning you." said I. the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "I am sure." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of License. You must require such a user to return or families. Now for the facts. "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, his eyes and forehead. tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "It certainly sounds feasible." casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "At half-wages, in fact." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "It is possible." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "So I heard. You have him here?" she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "We must sit without light. He would see it through the woman who has had her own way to make in the world. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "'Then let me do so?' With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. ashen face. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "Do you receive much company?" he asked. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to he. other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I there!' wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a chance." "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" bears upon the case?" 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' kind enough to tell me what I should do." consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "It missed him, then?" the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an and glanced through. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak noble correspondent could be. "Indeed! Whose, then?" delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the train.' had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter gentleman's clothes. disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our which I could not give. He asked for Alice. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "Certainly, madam." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the criminal. We have already had experience of such." buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "Yes." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "There are none." "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. fire. You quite follow me?" to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these burst into a hearty fit of laughter. matters immensely." Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off derbies." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in wedding?" "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us window when the police appeared." and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. Cross for the Continent." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of it with his own hands." the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen the matter?" "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, man. in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he of the vacancies.' 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "I fear not." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was "At what time?" believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "It is a murder, then?" later, upon the night of May 2nd." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial I have it here in my museum." peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' business." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time lamp in his hand. kindly on the shoulder. "Yes, he did." off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "We have tried and failed." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "You have carte blanche." "Deserted you?" "'Yes, sir.' cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "'Which dealer's?' for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "I was sure that I might rely on you." horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can his fortune, and I went back to pa. to change my dress. an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "But you would not advise me to refuse?" heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the examine." go--none." If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "Witness: It was. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "No." to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "What! Had he lost his wife?" One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle present." "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have mysterious business." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping carriage. It was a chestnut." security.' I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "Then he might have called to you?" strength of mind to control. constraint." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "And is that all?" hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "What have you to say now?" crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "The gentleman I describe." to go into your room and bar your shutters?" vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." pictures, libraries, or plate. and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "There is the writing." left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small it." game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "Awake, Watson?" he asked. but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "And the cigar-holder?" "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed man. perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. the general public were present, then?" which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "You heard nothing yourself last night?" broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, galvanised. It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very quite distinctive." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They highroad, where all traces were lost. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of