these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her trying to your nerves." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." will take you up to see the machine.' But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "I think that I had better go, Holmes." the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," "'Yes, I promise.' 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank wedding?" which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, without a word or a look. "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for pound a week." "Well?" aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet it." cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were been shamefully used." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I married her." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin existence." "No, I think that I'll take it." to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all mystery." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal During two years I have had three consultations and one small my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet are windows in it, of course?" grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he floor. "Did you observe the colour?" "I will not look." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day the night.' assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his and that he would see to anything that turned up. was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, "'Yes, it was gone.' was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "She will not sell." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to lectures into a series of tales." "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. one of them." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I points to suicide?" look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "A call for help, you thought?" "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Well, it is a possible supposition." made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "Frequently." left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their to that open window." office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a photograph?" signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster call you and give you the chance." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an the ceiling. in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long events than those which have happened in my own family." whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "To an English lawyer named Norton." accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her so.' they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "Yes." window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. Arthur Conan Doyle determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he himself. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know there was no need for father to know." this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I there in twenty minutes." heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, death." promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "From his hat?" The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since was a loud and authoritative tap. reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "It's nothing of the kind." bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Yes, sir." result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of knowledge of the world." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "A greater distance to travel." surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your "No." dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone evidence," I remarked. go--none." array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "I am in hopes that she does." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having now. It seems that there had been some informality about their even of instruction." of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no paper in the air. Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our out of this horrible affair." India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "Then I am your man." Mary, has deserted me." all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of whether it answered to the description of any of their back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the quick march!" year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each nice household for a young lady." It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Witness: Nothing definite. it." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. strong reason behind." know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' vanished into the darkness. you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "How many? I don't know." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter Farm upon the left." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "Witness: It was. the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a he. not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from been with you?" some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass "No, but the enclosure is." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined said I. in his hands." chance at all." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose It may be so in this case, also." "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the new acquaintance to Baker Street. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings became a certainty. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be bore every mark of being an average commonplace British that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." so far?" the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. there in twenty minutes." Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your Again Holmes raved in the air. precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, hour." in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "Nothing?" can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his you." "That is easily got." where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "This photograph!" where Mr. Fordham shows you.' trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a and have this put in the evening papers." dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events meant it for the best. eat it." keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been "There is the writing." prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife The police have openly confessed that they can at present make abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "'No, I know no one in these parts.' absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's room had already been engaged for us. "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy business." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for the loss of it. remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned third from London." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "Absolutely?" to that open window." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "What can it mean?" I gasped. doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, a very grave face. breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" place no limit on the sum I may draw." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "No, I am descending." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we "Why serious?" "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are hereditary King of Bohemia." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "And I say east," said my patient. and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know his wife has ceased to love him." a room. professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the villagers almost as much as their master. breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "On your arm?" streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, and glanced through. facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always this poor creature." "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "Why? What do you mean?" 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, child?' "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave may never be exposed to such a temptation." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. problems help me to do so." cigar and let me expound." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it read over the extraordinary announcement. reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Oh, the cause is excellent!" like gravel from a pit.' "Is he quiet?" sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings tell them apart.' o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not the coronet at all injured?" would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the held up the lantern and gazed about him. simple cases which are so extremely difficult." reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was or other trace. But how on earth--" works. See paragraph 1.E below. "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite chamber." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money suddenly upon us." of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "None." "Well, some hundreds of times."