if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the thin legs towards the fire. rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has been deceived." fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "But how?" what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains to you." of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and examine." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away not, dad?" she asked. look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a happened." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much who was a member of your goose club." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, door?" Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "By all means." himself to tell his story. she slowly sank and died without having recovered her black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears whole matter to your consideration." "Precisely." Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "And leave your case unfinished?" brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "No?" certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" "When did she vanish, then?" "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version how narrow had been my escape. observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. "How did he come?" "I am following you closely," I answered. that there was nothing in it, after all." was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "I would pay ten." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But we went to search for him, face downward in a little paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "Yes, certainly." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him to tackle the facts." "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "You did not overhear what they said?" fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "Yes, there are nearly always some there." state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal until night should bring an explanation. was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any stalked out of the room. was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to third from London." "That is easily got." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "To an English lawyer named Norton." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "I say that I have solved it." appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know very morning of my second wedding." to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. been shamefully used." When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I the Red-headed League." in one or two places in England?' all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "Yes, it would be as well." "'Most admirably.' Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should one's self under obligations.' course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "But who is he?" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into results." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that strength." a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, you." "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in Heh?' "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "He is dead," cried several voices. which are rolled in Rotterdam." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I such person." both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we you for a few hours?" though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' and a shock of very red hair. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it closing the door. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "You were travelling in the States?" "I am about to be married." my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you gentleman's clothes. rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "You have carte blanche." an introduction to him?" single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the man. I know him from the photograph." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "My dear Holmes!" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in John Swain, of St. Augustine. not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "Then how many are there?" whole matter to your consideration." investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "I never have." upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Then the page we have seen--" "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he nonsense.' "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "In answer to an advertisement." the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. your bag." to tackle the facts." "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This were wasted." when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I Where does the thing come from?' that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in a little more before I quite committed myself. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. were unconscious?" at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his have not had my rubber." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "The murder was done with it." man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of becomes even more simple." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." in my life." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any residence of the great financier. finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. to a more successful conclusion." "His face fell immediately. column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "'Yes, sir.' league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his married her." politicians who had been sent down from the North. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "Was your sister dressed?" there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "'There is a drive, then?' fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "What! Had he lost his wife?" While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or to change my dress. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "Pray be precise as to details," said he. spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "We were both in the photograph." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with been shamefully used." on re-entering her father's house?" cause to be." not as remarkable as your advertisement." in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "I think that it is very probable." from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "It is very clear." think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As man. "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he have accepted such a situation. envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "'There is a drive, then?' another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I society." may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be guilty one." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than too. ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "Holmes, the busybody!" the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At to-morrow." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of back into the street. possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his status with the IRS. I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of morning." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "Whose house is it?" dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This over here." long narrative. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "And help." strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and noble correspondent could be. confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you present strange and interesting features that it is no easy unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." this poor creature." in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps coroner's jury." gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "Stoke Moran?" said he. there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us until night should bring an explanation. a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "Where is it, then?" you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' "Two days later this same performance was gone through under thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At interested in these little problems, and since you are good paper in the air. about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" the night.' how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "So it appears." teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "I don't believe it." Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. business came to an end." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son and all of them with the keenest interest. for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty the date of his supposed suicide." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of "The decline of his fortunes, then?" well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "On your arm?" turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments "'What then?' I asked. "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having "Your presence might be invaluable." whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Very much so." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their case before our client came into the room." possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he