his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "It's nothing of the kind." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just article?" his face which made him a very different person to the round, prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man gentleman's clothes. "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and man. this unhappy family?" They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, are windows in it, of course?" always that they were such commands as a lady might with "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." chambers. said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to too. from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had putting in the horse. Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Will you go?" wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." in darkness. the King without delay." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "You were travelling in the States?" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "Yes." Street. bell. Holmes whistled. was keenly on my guard against him. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they least a fellow-countryman. "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the recover the gem." vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my foresight and the moral retrogression?" "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have light and attacked it." Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose Mary, has deserted me." "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "Really! You surprise me." expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was James Windibank. Voilà tout!" arrested. You then--" pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which heavily into it. reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "What then?" daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my heavily into it. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves said I. electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the man. handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "'Yes, it was gone.' "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were pictures, libraries, or plate. murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they "Come in!" said he. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock populous neighbourhood." "His face fell immediately. vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "No, thank goodness, she did not." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by British peeress.'" mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "Seven!" I answered. had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" been." "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "But what harm can there be in that?" interest. They are important, you understand, without being Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party unclasping of his long thin hands. as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "No legal papers or certificates?" forebodings. "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to mysterious end." inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. the room while you explain this matter?" Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over humiliation." "Thank you. And your address?" "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid villagers almost as much as their master. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought the bed, and you in that chair." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is over here." make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge hard-headed British jury." moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Holmes." probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was seven miles from Eyford Station.' "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. do.' always that they were such commands as a lady might with about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your carried out of court." robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, highroad, where all traces were lost. interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of felt?" while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of directly by questioning you." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to confronted him. my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any just called myself is not exactly my own." As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round fattened it expressly for you.' it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather means taking possession of that which another person has a prior passage and a tap at the door. "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I back alive. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the the morning and make my own way in the world.' head. So long, then!" "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of you want, then?' man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND lost nothing by them." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Yes, they were peculiar boots." brought there to personate someone, and the real person is stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." mysterious end." year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little true." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. beyond words. About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. round with crates and massive boxes. legal crime." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair DISSOLVED. adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt skylight. days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the be.' nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales have I gained?" continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to works. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that on re-entering her father's house?" passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a the little opening for the ventilator is." "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. strength of mind to control. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "Yes, sir." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "Yes." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "'Certainly not.' the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "Yes." him." low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew points in connection with it which never have been, and probably abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This so far?" that, and I came down." here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in persecution?" "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant see me here to avoid scandal." observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all way in." "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay despair." "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "What then?" rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "Yes, sir." I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and "Yes. He waved his hands." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was acquaintance?" through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of main points of my analysis." Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "I am armed." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "Then he might have called to you?" can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of as he folded up the epistle. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads where we are going." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were highroad, where all traces were lost. became a certainty. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "No good news?" remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, long narrative. true." There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing you do it in twenty minutes!' "Pray let us have it, for all that." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, an introduction to him?" written, and locked the door of the office after me. but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone your bag." The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at is acting for the best. "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "One horse?" interjected Holmes. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not photograph a cabinet?" inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that open." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to tell me that you intended to go into harness." "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "Murdered?" "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of later, upon the night of May 2nd." with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless key of the affair now." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "There is the writing." I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at "So I heard. You have him here?" who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "So I heard. You have him here?" For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the burst into a hearty fit of laughter. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce least a fellow-countryman. "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' Holmes' room. A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin Munro.' The telegram which we eventually received came late one night jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "They are typewritten," I remarked. it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow outside. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in the King without delay." way in." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "My stepfather's business papers." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "How did you deduce the select?" upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be have one." "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook my secret was safe in his possession. some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle late!' nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "And the murderer?" pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the desk. these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could October 9, 1890. son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my to some other building. A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I window when the police appeared." "Perhaps we may make them less so." with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." "Why did you beat the pavement?" this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last whereabouts. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will