"Witness: Nothing definite. "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in the coroner come to?" was lame." back to my heart. did not hear it also.' "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "What are they?" time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means may never be exposed to such a temptation." here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. hurried by. "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "Seven!" I answered. orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up awaited us upon the table. said I. "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." the dangers which encompass me." It may be so in this case, also." which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked sit on the left-hand side of the driver." inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found of a light. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently official police." completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and a few minutes he said that it would be all right. whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his in the hope of finding them." Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper "Yes, certainly." "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "But the mystery?" more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it observed. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the that you wished to speak to me?' written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "I am about to be married." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six this man was intellectual?" it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of business in the City. She little knew what. comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "Well, it is a possible supposition." Holmes." "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and gives a meaning to it." "And your mother is alive?" "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Has he come with you to-night?" the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "Indeed! Whose, then?" inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. completely overtopped every other consideration that we both enough to aid us in our search." keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this mystery." whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has occupations.' keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he "And for present expenses?" rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "Have you her photograph?" before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "Quite so." ago." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a should be so warm over such a trifle." electronic works "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I morning." coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this shag which I had seen upon the previous night. dead, shall be safe with us." soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "Breckinridge is his name." "What I expected to see." have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those vault. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to cost them two and thirty pounds." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "Then, as to money?" course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was I nodded to show that I had heard. generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the of his shoulders. you?' the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that despair." hereditary King of Bohemia." and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own in his hands." combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed from you?" breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, British peeress.'" complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the cost them two and thirty pounds." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "I saw her in conversation with her maid." seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "Whose house is it?" Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be to-night?' the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of You can understand that this register and diary may implicate have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "How did that help you?" "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. room had already been engaged for us. "Is he quiet?" "And I." running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he himself. them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. delighted to hear it," he said. housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's prove to be little relation between the different incidents of pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "I cannot say that I have." far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have my friend's incisive reasoning. and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "They are typewritten," I remarked. after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "'Yes, sir.' screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all dear old homesteads?" very old mansion. the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "And from a noble client?" fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you in the dead of the night?' photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "What have you done?" asked Holmes. only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "No legal papers or certificates?" uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "Ha! you find it so?" handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "'How far from the body?' wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together respectable self." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "Yes." "What is it?" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I once more on the important position which you have been fortunate the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, of the efforts of the United States government and of the better impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "What will you do, then?" my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "Entirely." still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, presume?" "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Yes." brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened presented which may be striking and bizarre without being That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled I shall communicate with you." "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few things are very often connected not with the larger but with the charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "In the cells." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual nothing with him." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "What can you not understand?" The King stared at him in amazement. "Is he quiet?" laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "'I have heard so.' vault. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic chemical work which was so dear to him. "It is his hat." to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "'Which dealer's?' greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. companion. "Upon what point?" itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a morning." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "But not more so than I to find you." "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been was not a bird to be seen there. Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "Well, some hundreds of times." face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "Yes." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by along the entire front of the house, with three long windows caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone in a very precise fashion." cigar and let me expound." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the note?" with some details as to your case." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the occurred." the side-table." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been the house with me." the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. of it with the greatest attention. month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was the one as in the other." some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of entirely devoid of interest." nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just with some details as to your case." "Then I do not see the point." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "But how?" stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he Leave Paddington by the 11:15." strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. The telegram which we eventually received came late one night deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "At what time?" Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "Perfectly so." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "Did he not advertise?" "I would give my fortune to have them back." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "'I am sure if I had known--' my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "It certainly sounds feasible." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "One of the highest in England." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window it." or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "He disappeared so suddenly." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable manager. morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at "And I say east," said my patient. sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps success. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that