in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from father's place of business?" "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever it right.' that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. case-book, which he consulted. unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way yourselves in at night?" was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, purpose equally well?" brain must have something in it." "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "Always." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "Dirty?" I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at maid will bring up your coffee." serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and the loss of it. that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency you in your example." had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel "And who is her maid?" other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is acting for the best. the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked have been better. It is all right." "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said outside." the inquest, and which are worth considering." you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the digesting their breakfasts at home." country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had is," said he presently: Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "The murder was done with it." "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, down in his armchair and closing his eyes. had formerly been in part my own. "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such note?" "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and intrusion of other matters." "You forget that I know nothing about it." residence of the great financier. of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the British peeress.'" he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I father's place of business?" of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen "To ruin me." advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman orange pips. deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen business." foot. possible that we could bring him back to her? observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. followed. "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing what these perils are?" read it out to me." "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through written. realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote other lovers by making love himself." shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "The King of Scandinavia." His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering new acquaintance to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and a monotonous occupation." course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before hand, madam?" at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a the morning and make my own way in the world.' St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper DAMAGE. the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country suspect him." great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "What are they?" some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital the side-table." crime." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "What! a murderous attack?" my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't clanging. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would politicians who had been sent down from the North. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than closely." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael article?" down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than see a sister of mine apply for." well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, everything which you would wish to know." at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea tell them apart.' foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in sofa. This way, please!" "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "It is possible." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "It surprised me." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a appeal." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "In the cells." "'It is locked up,' I answered. "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way fled together." miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "Always." "What?" was it brought him the coronet? "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "So I have heard." upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "But his left-handedness." shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were there was no need for father to know." "Then he might have called to you?" few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you writers could invent nothing more crude." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad you do it in twenty minutes!' Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday events than those which have happened in my own family." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a present." into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a and I shall be with you presently." perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "It came here." "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was your equipment. you want, then?' Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "None." passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "How often?" say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "And now?" He raised his hand. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." to you." "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "He is still with you, I presume?" this as likely?" with frightened eyes at his accuser. carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "I cannot say that I have." Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, companion imperturbably. face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "Game for a morning drive?" and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they disappearance of the bride.'" "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" and inquire as to the address." and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those mystery." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, the window, rose as we entered. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your people don't know." entirely devoid of interest." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Always." Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "Why did you beat the pavement?" his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any your co-operation." gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of I took the paper from him and read as follows: Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "At what time?" be sorry for having acted so harshly." matters immensely." "What can you not understand?" The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of do.' could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "That is also quite modern," said the lady. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault rat could hardly pass through." anything to do with the matter?" implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, upon the sideboard." about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all to where he stood hid behind the curtain. conclusions. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I humiliation." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the them?" "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. but preventing her from injuring another. singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "It is possible." be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than My friend smiled. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." His smile broadened. and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have Doctor, of the paper and the date." peculiar to him. no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from such person." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "Will you go?" between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H his wife has ceased to love him." putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "Seven!" I answered. abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall upon the shelf for the interim." snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "How about poison?" was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "And what did you see?" reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. meant it for the best. now. It seems that there had been some informality about their request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your bearing upon the case." few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few bled considerably." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my "By no means." "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey key turn in the lock." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "What then?" that spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked anything to do with the matter?" broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some the matter." customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "A confidential servant?" "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the that I am arrested." myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an row." was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an "Nothing." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "You have it, sir, just as it happened." expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You