forehead. photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Holmes' room. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest important." such attractions and accomplishments?' grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, "What are they?" with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the even of instruction." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." spare." was it brought him the coronet? that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a that threaten you." towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear hereditary King of Bohemia." could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "My photograph." shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "You are hungry," I remarked. stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "Her father is very rich?" What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third politicians who had been sent down from the North. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "No sign of it?" years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "We were both in the photograph." said he at last. "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate to-night." "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with "I am all attention, madam." charged with?" "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation the tragedy. upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call his knees, staring into the fire. fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for to-night?" I asked. delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you his huge brown hands. "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter go from here to the Strand." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal anything to do with the matter?" What do you deduce from it?" "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the infinite languor in his face. black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making singular points about the case. What did the police think of the Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one she might be summoned. incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until the bed, and you in that chair." "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was man. "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "Precisely." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Won't it ring?" his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor definite end. It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "I don't say that. Perhaps." "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable so.' outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was I approached. America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had throat." get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. roused himself from his reverie. "Oh, the cause is excellent!" possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "And you thought he was pulled back?" out of this horrible affair." sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased Countess of Morcar's?" it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story key turn in the lock." arrangements." "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: it were putty." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in there is a decided draught." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" shall not find me ungrateful." "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning assist you in forming an opinion." the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the me, and I could not think that his explanation of the galvanised. "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his round with crates and massive boxes. "And you can do nothing until then?" the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any problems help me to do so." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "Yes, but only for you and me." "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "'Is purely nominal.' seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. less than 26s. 4d. all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "At half-wages, in fact." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "You think that he is dead?" his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and it." amused." "A greater distance to travel." sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the there." utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to been." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "I have seen the police." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. handed it to him. "His face fell immediately. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the "Pray let us have it, for all that." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to lost nothing by them." own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Quite so. She has her freedom." insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the companion imperturbably. skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. the warnings." only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. details." acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no the address that was given us in the advertisement. we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "In answer to an advertisement." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "Deserted you?" after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face retorted upon me, and I on you." have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I It was close upon four before the door opened, and a right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "On Monday." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. do." VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "Nearly eleven." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "And Irene Adler?" "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He there were one or two details which were new to me. But the stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds you?" when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a know all about it," he snarled. Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black I. quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and brain must have something in it." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "'I shall certainly be there.' matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be is four-and-twenty." away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent someone who had been in Australia." importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "So I have heard." "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "What! Had he lost his wife?" permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the any more." "I will not look." considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "No." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." putting in the horse. an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE writer." looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when all-comprehensive glances. "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I because she had spent so short a time in this country that she comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded secret." arrangements." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when are, and they are waiting for us." least a most suspicious remark." "I don't believe it." presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "Did you become engaged then?" terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. business." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross But Holmes shook his head gravely. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "Have you her photograph?" "No." "I warn you that they are very incomplete." the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "And now?" He raised his hand. dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it light and attacked it." have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint away into the river." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." that I can to serve you." hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "Yes." "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they presented more singular features than that which was associated "I cannot imagine." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "What are they?" "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "Get out!" said he. disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary fact, we may call it conclusive." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. in the port of London." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, it." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check nonsense.' The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." be there in time for your coming." "To the police?" "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "'What, the red-headed man?' ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "I guessed as much." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "And on what day did he meet his death?" his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have photograph a cabinet?" over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed of them has the shutters up.' at my remark. have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "'About the same.' the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "How did that help you?" "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a matter." summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "How long did she speak to this Alice?" will he say when he returns?" He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a singular points about the case. What did the police think of the gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "'And what are they worth?' I asked. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. have got?" "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email "How on earth--" from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "You horrify me." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "And how did he make his money?" I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better.