chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "To the police?" Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. golden eyeglasses. manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "And now?" He raised his hand. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "No, I am descending." metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But back alive. The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that unprofitable." "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "An accident, I presume?" given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was business came to an end." appeared upon the scene." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but prepare for the new role I have to play." astonishment. "'Yes, sir.' salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All the night.' and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Where to?" England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and right! Sit down and let us talk it over." drove away. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "In heaven's name, what for?" 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to that, and I came down." abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square down in his armchair and closing his eyes. province." "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "The King of Scandinavia." bled considerably." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, not personally threatened." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "Precisely." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the written, and locked the door of the office after me. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both maid will bring up your coffee." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "Not particularly." out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "'Which dealer's?' inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my "Did he not advertise?" you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? house for five minutes.' are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "But you can know nothing of this?" another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, call for protection in the marriage market, for the present often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "No?" is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of side. fatally injured? had formerly been in part my own. lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike easy-going way." against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "What then?" who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." him. that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can fire. You quite follow me?" house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with friend's singular character. feature." reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "The Coroner: What do you mean? roused himself from his reverie. father's young wife. not within a twentieth part of the market price." had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "You have the photograph?" things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others been deceived." before the coroner and the police-court." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be Count Von Kramm." observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very impression behind it as though a window had gently closed 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about "Will you go?" Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I followed. swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. is so. I know all about McCarthy." whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "That is it on the dressing-table." once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "'I am sure if I had known--' first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet it. was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was some water from a caraffe. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and strong reason behind." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, not personally threatened." old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "I promise," said Holmes. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "Yes, all." "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you tell him that I know him to be innocent." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Well, but China?" his fortune, and I went back to pa. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong him!" The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy emerged. Project Gutenberg-tm works. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A hardly wander." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "I shall most certainly do so." there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' yet." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that and shall probably return to London by the evening train." was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your despaired of." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "To an English lawyer named Norton." Leave Paddington by the 11:15." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that quite distinctive." prepare for the new role I have to play." and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "Never." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "And from a noble client?" into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "He said too much." "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "That sounds a little paradoxical." he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "No, my brougham is waiting." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir get her out of the way." have I gained?" "Quite so." commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window Gutenberg-tm License. "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in point in the dark hollow of his hand. whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine security.' "What shall I do?" should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "May I see it?" which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a behind me. other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible be.' "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." to talk it over. had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" miles off. sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage that I can to serve you." lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted whether it answered to the description of any of their freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "A call for help, you thought?" so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no national property. I was determined that the law should have its Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "It came here." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "Won't it ring?" Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "And that is--" man. English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "What can it mean?" I gasped. his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better legal crime." thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "I do." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man the morning and make my own way in the world.' little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with was a loud and authoritative tap. butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for "Did you become engaged then?" "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit strange features which were associated with the two crimes which and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank front of me. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "Yes." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. there is a decided draught." "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke and inquire as to the address." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but James Windibank. Voilà tout!" forecastle of an emigrant ship. determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his arms and began to sob in a high treble key. investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "No, finished." Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your was feeling which was the fattest.' after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we any." of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a said Mr. Holder. prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, disturbance in my wife." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "I was certainly surprised to find you there." in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after question you as to those details which seem to me to be most imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to everything which you would wish to know." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new "From his hat?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in before the coroner and the police-court." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." wanted for ourselves." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to occurred." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband returned to France?" about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive said I. horse could go." respectable self." "It was a confession," I ejaculated. your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and giving me time to thank him. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the you?' occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, narrative." the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "No, I think that I'll take it." but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with hardly wander." "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little second." who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." it right.' every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the in one or two places in England?' "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "But how did you gain them?" surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector go back?" remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.