smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his the Friday. Was it to be in church?" a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "That is also quite modern," said the lady. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, generous with you in money matters.' points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could presented which may be striking and bizarre without being the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he chill to my heart. "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall narrative." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined cigars in their mouths. to-night?' "I cannot imagine." entirely devoid of interest." varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. to change my dress. "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "I am in hopes that she does." "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "I cannot tell." Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "I have my revolver," said I. could not account in any way for the presence of the missing Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so or in danger--" its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "The murder was done with it." once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "Stoke Moran?" said he. you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said "And you thought he was pulled back?" it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Then he might have called to you?" the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been My friend smiled. "And Miss Sutherland?" stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. and put his glass in his pocket. "And from a noble client?" in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to "You have the photograph?" "My dear Holmes!" to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, him nearly every evening." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would sofa. This way, please!" I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "I was afraid that you were engaged." keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. this poor creature." there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "'And the work?' investigation." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the papers on the sundial.'" "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "Entirely." of note-paper. It read in this fashion: thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical you." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." husband's writing, madam." the matter?" Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an never will be, entirely cleared up. crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "But she could not love him." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more what these perils are?" rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence delighted to hear it," he said. "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "Indeed! Whose, then?" Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I Cross for the Continent." "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "Were they all fastened this morning?" not within a twentieth part of the market price." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a think you a quite exceptional woman." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving once more. presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I points to suicide?" seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt signal between you and your father? "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "Yes." her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "Yes, from Horsham." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "No, thank goodness, she did not." clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime directors, with the result that you have seen." heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it the Assizes." the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' and that he would see to anything that turned up. delighted to hear it," he said. treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a and capable of preserving a secret.' him to be an active member of the medical profession." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son of campaign. woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from brain must have something in it." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "But she could not love him." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of suddenly upon us." "Yes, sir." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" he. be. that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." down. Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to himself in a perplexing position. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and certainly do as you advise." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a have been better. It is all right." refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, and laid it on the table. with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the simple cases which are so extremely difficult." sit on the left-hand side of the driver." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple if only as a check to my own memory." collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Leadenhall Street--and--" beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told "Upon what point?" I was concerned in it." another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a are, I think, all that we need." the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite disappearance of these gems?" "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." opportunities to fix the problem. room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was furiously. you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news less than 26s. 4d. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears not personally threatened." o'clock is it?" black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see indiscretion." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "I cannot as yet see any connection." wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the that you saw all that I did." course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been newspaper selections." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Witness: It was. results." neither fascinating nor artistic." mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man fattened it expressly for you.' outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must definite end. signal between you and your father? without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "She told me to ask you." which it had come upon my father." "To the police?" "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between lamp. in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "'You cannot say what it was?' in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "I have my revolver," said I. leave you to your papers for a little." Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive populous neighbourhood." continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "'I have already given you my word.' gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting individual and becomes the badge of a society." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Stoke Moran?" said he. utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "Oh, fresh and glossy." I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand conclusions. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so call it cruel." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of papers must be those that are destroyed.' "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover could not have written that. It is the German who is so remarked. Sutherland?" rose-bushes. the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm meant." of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to the best of training." such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE "But I am all in the dark." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The this Miss Turner." "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he question," said Holmes, smiling. Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "You'll never persuade me to believe that." I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact about. "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "Was he the only applicant?" Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had may never be exposed to such a temptation." from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "I will try. What is it?" "But what is it you wish?" take the flies, but not before." what do you think they found in the pockets?" "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of "On the contrary, this is the right side." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "And from a noble client?" cost them two and thirty pounds." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I distance from the station, and there we found the young lady solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to Again Holmes raved in the air. helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and which our visitor detailed to us. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was guilty parties." to miss it." "Perhaps I have." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, it." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and despaired of." have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "No sign of it?" floor. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try did not hear it also.' by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though danger is over." constraint." could not account in any way for the presence of the missing forecastle of an emigrant ship. understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do golden eyeglasses. floor. case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "Here?" discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George fat-encircled eyes. there was no need for father to know." where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps so far?" wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left do." face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, suddenly upon us." loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce quite distinctive." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, the running down." was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your I shall communicate with you." reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Where, then?" papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to papers must be those that are destroyed.' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "No?" The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "My dear Holmes!" Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "By no means." observed. coat-tails." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of the coroner come to?" "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the I nodded to show that I had heard. "On the contrary, this is the right side." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my