me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my "But it has twice been burgled." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "But how could you guess what the motive was?" that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. "'Where could I find him?' Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when papers." to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. I held the little printed slip to the light. just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for wedding?" overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran ourselves in the office." which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another everything which you would wish to know." bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Was there a secret marriage?" What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly and all of them with the keenest interest. and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! and a shock of very red hair. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it front of me. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover weapon." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was was lame." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let occupations.' ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly "Yes, sir." and the church but not where the lady lived." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "By no means." nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared "And sit in the dark?" time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried Cross for the Continent." "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking have had none more fantastic than this." effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread My friend smiled. third from London." they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" brain must have something in it." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "Then he might have called to you?" man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored must compliment you." as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "But you would not advise me to refuse?" my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I row." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the case-book, which he consulted. "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "I cannot say that I have." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very where she found matters as described by the last witness. with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall persecution?" "Yes." "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "What then?" thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little Foundation chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's with frightened eyes at his accuser. forecastle of an emigrant ship. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "Holmes, the busybody!" morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest astonishment. "Yes." excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his the salesman. "I was mad--insane." foresight and the moral retrogression?" full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. goes." indeed happy." the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where within hail.' to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "What can it mean?" I gasped. feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "I am all attention, madam." corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "Then I do not see the point." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want the roots. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some your Highness to the police-station?" "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "Has he come with you to-night?" still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've giving me time to thank him. took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was several quiet little villages up there." seven miles from Eyford Station.' "Holmes, the busybody!" vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "How are you getting on?" where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Yes." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's seen the man in the road." to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" were unconscious?" would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for became a certainty. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." wife's character?" are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as or other trace. But how on earth--" photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, forebodings. second window is the one that I jumped from." metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We been." logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his respectable self." air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an place, I think that there is good ground to think that the belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her to tackle the facts." this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this shag which I had seen upon the previous night. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "My Mary? Impossible!" "I am following you closely," I answered. "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the outside." bill, which interests me deeply." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "Married! When?" pierced for earrings?" being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, signal between you and your father? roused himself from his reverie. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how flock.' man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to success. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have joking. could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from my little problems." "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a and I shall be with you presently." "Her father is very rich?" in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" them, and came down just as you departed. The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in trifles." down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project "Yes." "It is possible." "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. "Entirely." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." humiliation." from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the is a common subject for conversation. morning." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "And why in hopes?" and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "Then I can wait in the next room." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his hour." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "No?" our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. Holmes. commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "'As governess?' of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend weigh very heavily upon my conscience." you, my dear young lady?' set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at get the tickets." pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes least a most suspicious remark." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, my little problems." "Witness: Nothing definite. took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has which should have the effect of calling the attention of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. new acquaintance to Baker Street. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of she has been waylaid. There has been no result." can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in him." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes all?" "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way as noiselessly as she had come. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage not, dad?" she asked. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "Stolen." his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to Again Holmes raved in the air. "'Is purely nominal.' it? Did I buy the geese off you?" the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in to you." "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Have you it here?" "Pray do so." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "'Then let me do so?' leave you to your papers for a little." carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my important." need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is married her." helping a boy to put up the shutters. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of narrative." opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the such attractions and accomplishments?' copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not of the vacancies.' offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, should be taken.' get the tickets." presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean "Do you receive much company?" he asked. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, and no precautions can guard against." "No, finished." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "I assure you that I am in your hands." houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my train.' he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official there!' the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is nonsense.' when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "Never." "What then?" to surprise her." "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "The landlord of the Alpha." process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated new duties?' reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "The decline of his fortunes, then?" "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "None." cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Bought." "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, what is your own theory as to what took place?" fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. that you saw all that I did." shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "That sounds a little paradoxical." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were go back?" reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." you understand?" given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Pray continue your narrative." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting I nodded to show that I had heard. were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out "Pray let us have it, for all that." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me drawing your inferences." You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I Eyford." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera him!" tassel actually lying upon the pillow. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I