impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, with frightened eyes at his accuser. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "His face fell immediately. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "Yes, from Horsham." threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not walking." then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "'As governess?' difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." tied." "Awake, Watson?" he asked. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted of Mr. Rucastle's." recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out recover the gem." wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "You did not overhear what they said?" it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the will take you up to see the machine.' The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something him. long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom "I cannot say that I have." "I think that it is very probable." by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "'Yes, it was gone.' that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary only touch the interest." the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the hand, madam?" but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. this poor creature." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he few hundred pounds.' was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which was keenly on my guard against him. "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "I was mad--insane." from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." roused himself from his reverie. The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole this man was intellectual?" asked with his eyes open. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time enough to aid us in our search." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "'Certainly not.' hardly wander." unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "No. What a strange idea!" voice, changing her seat as requested. "I have seen the police." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we the stones. "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in you." what these perils are?" he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the is now desirous of getting those letters back." my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "You are hungry," I remarked. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, strong and stiff." breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "What have you to say now?" astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "What do you mean?" considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings floor. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has it." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, closely." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a which I could not give. He asked for Alice. Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can the little opening for the ventilator is." time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "Your sister is dead, then?" "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural fait accompli?" Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. again, where I was soon asleep. abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we and have this put in the evening papers." deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, towards the blaze. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "Pray be precise as to details," said he. where we are going." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" if she died from some sudden fright." "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little "I am about to be married." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part must be when I saw the door open.' reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is few hundred pounds.' months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project instincts rose up against that laugh. Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards official police." merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed went to the Alpha were town bred." go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand brain must have something in it." which our visitor detailed to us. George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the fat-encircled eyes. to-night." strength in the others." "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then locked." the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one detective. that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One that I am arrested." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "'And what salary do you ask?' a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he at my own good fortune. father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. "The landlord of the Alpha." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his villagers almost as much as their master. time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Yes, but only for you and me." "Very truly yours, "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly since then to throw any light upon what became of him." news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others towards the blaze. streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "Where, then?" steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong I was concerned in it." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still be sorry for having acted so harshly." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given more terrible than the truth. better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the again." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my crime." you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "Yes, they were peculiar boots." everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the occupations.' "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. notes," he said. over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and with the outside air!" "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon very old mansion. assist you in forming an opinion." no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for extraordinary contortions. would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the nursery. the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully know what is wrong with it.' varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my official police." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his like that before?" behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously one of them." hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who held up the lantern and gazed about him. and the whole place is in a blaze." room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "And I." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "Was the window open?" that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She is acting for the best. that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and trying to your nerves." sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a father's place of business?" "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "But how?" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "She showed me, as I told you she would." "I have seen the police." who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which in him." province." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic unprofitable." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and along the entire front of the house, with three long windows in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "Oh, the cause is excellent!" Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "I don't believe it." "Was your sister dressed?" astonishment. mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, taking in every detail of the apartment. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, to change my dress. of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a not, dad?" she asked. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "Not in the least." discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. suddenly upon us." XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "I will do it." "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Edgeware Road. Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you know that the truth is known." Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet then?" and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." appeal." imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, ordinary clothes on?" "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way considering the formidable letters which were received by himself me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have upon an income of about 60 pounds." the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my burst out into a roar of laughter. more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up for securing the situation." I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through then?" "Certainly, madam." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "Stolen." the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded window when the police appeared." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "The rest you will leave in our hands." wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet means taking possession of that which another person has a prior pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his companion. It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. woman." McCarthy." he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Yes, I have one waiting." started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "How often?" the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always would apply.' should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were