"Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more was a lad." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I get the tickets." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no your co-operation." cup of tea. upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" in my life." little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Yes, but only for you and me." a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I whereabouts. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "But he might be a bachelor." lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "One of the highest in England." to have been novel and of interest." face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "Entirely." "My last client of the sort was a king." enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, writer." The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? "How did that help you?" "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that one's self under obligations.' "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who go--none." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a furiously. "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his "In the cells." red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of said I. princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who correct than the official force." With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "The decline of his fortunes, then?" is so. I know all about McCarthy." "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. feature." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, fattened it expressly for you.' spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their it." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "No." During two years I have had three consultations and one small Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled burst into a hearty fit of laughter. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people stepfather?" "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, I shall communicate with you." of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features "I am to be neutral?" "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I shall use the carriage to-night." you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general an introduction to him?" "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "Ten will be early enough." "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as and the colonel ushered me in. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "Entirely." "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been maiden herself was most instructive." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "But his lameness?" than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical shoulder; "he's all right." served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation placed his cuttings. "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as dear old homesteads?" the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and had formerly been in part my own. the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever business." "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our Lee, in the county of Kent." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." colonel looking down at me. other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "'Is purely nominal.' his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez to that open window." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a been shamefully used." Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew for securing the situation." that he has suffered." twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind knowledge of the world." I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. the very morning of the wedding." remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has matter." was feeling which was the fattest.' "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it returning from some small jollification and was making his way remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, and have this put in the evening papers." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his washing it down with a long draught of water. brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. noble correspondent could be. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "How did that help you?" crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "'In my own bureau.' It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "I shall be delighted." exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that both be extremely obliged.' here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and the inner apartment." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little crowd. individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had a very grave face. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing ventilator." mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work simple cases which are so extremely difficult." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "I think that I had better go, Holmes." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet this unhappy family?" "They are typewritten," I remarked. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This Clair, of Lee." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "Then what has happened to him?" "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made that you can jump it.' "It is half-past ten now." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "'Stolen!' he cried. been with you?" "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray said I. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am lectures into a series of tales." at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the me what he had done with the three missing stones. to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "That is unusual in a young girl." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "Pray continue your narrative." may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. have accepted such a situation. so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' brought there to personate someone, and the real person is "'And the work?' by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "VIOLET HUNTER." IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed his grey eyes. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. I shall communicate with you." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, several quiet little villages up there." the so-precious time, but come!' been." been anything against him. He had for years been known as a league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "But his left-handedness." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn been deceived." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo could not have written that. It is the German who is so "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a peculiar to him. business." "None." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "What will you do, then?" Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "We have tried and failed." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your carpenter." "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster several quiet little villages up there." to affect your life." opportunities to fix the problem. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, said I. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "But how did you gain them?" the driver. fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what is four-and-twenty." Pope's Court. stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not Gutenberg-tm License. fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in memory. "Very truly yours, interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, infinite languor in his face. police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been "The landlord of the Alpha." some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements door?" being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my late!' feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. dramatic, in fact." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not and all of them with the keenest interest. shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, you found me to-night--and running through the front room she the salesman. here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he second." "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you forebodings. "No bad?" card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. photograph?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I skylight. Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" together. husband's writing, madam." are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. breakfast." instincts rose up against that laugh. and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall this unhappy family?" "Really! You surprise me." no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "No. His orders were to stay in the house." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in during that time.' transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. murdered man." "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "The Coroner: What do you mean? it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "'Most admirably.' The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "He slept on the premises." "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "'Never.' word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done should be so warm over such a trifle." deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "You think that he is dead?" would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would front of me. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "The rest you will leave in our hands." newspaper selections." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed Gutenberg-tm License. presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true."