the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, clang of the bell. returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is carried out of court." us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me "I cannot imagine." flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He beg that you will break it off." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said fire. You quite follow me?" association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors carpenter." official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "What have you to say now?" "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a some mystery and the punishment of some crime." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you constraint." corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger "That is not always so easy." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland My friend smiled. for its centre. "That also I could fathom." Henry Baker is a member." persecution?" prepare for the new role I have to play." our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, enough to aid us in our search." was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew chemical work which was so dear to him. smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "He is still with you, I presume?" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has geese which you supplied to the Alpha." sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I "You horrify me!" "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." present strange and interesting features that it is no easy now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the meant." 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. what I may call a really hard day's work." "He might." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be started for the Temple to see my husband. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "You know me, then?" her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited My friend smiled. "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high which it had come upon my father." would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning joking. in the hope of finding them." late." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house papers must be those that are destroyed.' "It is a murder, then?" refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my papers." finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and careless servant girl?" "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "I will get her to show me." could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the "And how did you verify them?" guilty parties." Sholtos." "It's nothing of the kind." He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it suddenly upon us." ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater really the only notable feature about the thing." "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of newspaper selections." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "He slept on the premises." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite breakfast?" "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of fasten all the windows?" one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of had a long day." "Witness: Nothing definite. "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "Yes." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small paper in the air. you?' feature." "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, eavesdroppers?' 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring tail." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "He might." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are what is your own theory as to what took place?" All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "'Stolen!' he cried. not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your along the entire front of the house, with three long windows travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "I assure you that I am in your hands." hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. sentimental considerations in the background which would induce both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the have one." at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you of it with the greatest attention. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prison!" strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "Only as much as we can deduce." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," disappearance of these gems?" for the market.' populous neighbourhood." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "Who by?" "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind on re-entering her father's house?" garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem carpenter." offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the father's young wife. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself thirty. purpose equally well?" the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A to tell." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we unclasping of his long thin hands. Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." come either from the window or the door. My attention was "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "What will you say?" papers diligently of late, have you not?" that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "Your sister is dead, then?" had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little mystery may be cleared along those lines." once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as very old mansion. room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable "Were they all fastened this morning?" if I call to-morrow?" over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice three of the beryls in it, was missing. Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of train from Paddington which would bring you there at about "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "You have a clue?" be best to do. forecastle of an emigrant ship. fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "'Stolen!' he cried. to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by through." see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the interests were the same as his." them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking locked." I. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "You have carte blanche." 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. yourselves in at night?" undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If neither fascinating nor artistic." my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "And your father? Did you tell him?" which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and see me here to avoid scandal." list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just ways including including checks, online payments and credit card him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains Serpentine Avenue. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Heh?' I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "You were travelling in the States?" "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by look dissatisfied." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich you." weigh very heavily upon my conscience." Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an the side-table." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "I guessed as much." errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should directors have had misgivings upon the subject." basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "'How far from the body?' retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" had died away into the silence from which it rose. "It is his hat." that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "To the police?" after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be in a friendly supper." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "I guessed as much." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last security.' the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of problems help me to do so." which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "What is it?" furiously. any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "And how did he make his money?" "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and good for you to do.' later, upon the night of May 2nd." analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her careless servant girl?" would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear that you saw all that I did." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer I held the little printed slip to the light. "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and Holmes." disturbance in my wife." could not have written that. It is the German who is so British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that dear old homesteads?" "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, Munro.' lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very