"There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "It goes to the housekeeper's room." suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the swore that no one else had been in the front room during the laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the she to prove their authenticity?" journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the is four-and-twenty." keep the flames under. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "A greater distance to travel." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "'I have already given you my word.' such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow case-book, which he consulted. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. stood on the top of it. at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "The doctor?" so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "'I shall certainly be there.' been anything against him. He had for years been known as a of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the your troubles." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain meant it for the best. when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the page at http://pglaf.org the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." address. "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat have established a very serious case against the son of the expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, if she died from some sudden fright." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All round with crates and massive boxes. you." interest. They are important, you understand, without being "But I have heard all that you have heard." and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think tied." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds carriage. It was a chestnut." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own arrangements." and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house voice, changing her seat as requested. "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very very old mansion. was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up It may be so in this case, also." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "Nothing?" "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, in his power. you want, then?' to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "It came here." overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. do." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and certainly do as you advise." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our for the market.' observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this towards the blaze. going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I goes." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "I warn you that they are very incomplete." certainly not very gracious." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I that I may have something better before very many minutes are walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "'You cannot say what it was?' wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding call for it in person on Monday morning.' who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, success. "Yes." burst out into a roar of laughter. over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may where Mr. Fordham shows you.' Holmes." presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." "I say that I have solved it." burst into a hearty fit of laughter. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "No, I am descending." smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I to Leatherhead. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be I nodded again. daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with constraint." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means away into the river." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "And what did you see?" "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** rat could hardly pass through." "Your French gold?" finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "By train from Waterloo." "That was it, sir." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door License. You must require such a user to return or When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes that he will be back before evening." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late "Where did you address your letters, then?" "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "That is unusual in a young girl." American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have locked." "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "I have my revolver," said I. and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had new duties?' which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "Well, some hundreds of times." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall there." "Yes, he did." "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in signal between you and your father? slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "Absolutely none." thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me unprofitable." butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "It is solved." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "You have carte blanche." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and closing the door. clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Pray continue your narrative." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring to-night?' for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at the child." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has "'I have already given you my word.' records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to Eyford at 11:15.' first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, weary and pale-looking. unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." him nearly every evening." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet not fit the lock." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the forecastle of an emigrant ship. word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The tied." had formerly been in part my own. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the already been minutely examined." "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of morning." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "But we can't all be." generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. "Did you become engaged then?" wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "I answered that I had not. fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered habit of advancing money.' and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink and no precautions can guard against." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a bearing upon the case." client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to was a lad." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "Who by?" Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in said he at last. Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "I shall be delighted." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying sparkled upon his finger. Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "But we can't all be." 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" you in your example." and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? country, and eventually married, without anyone having a large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with get her out of the way." "And help." photograph a cabinet?" "None." then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but do you make of it all?" seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "'What, the red-headed man?' thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "No. What a strange idea!" "What! You do not mean bodies?" Munro.' about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but bird of prey. house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all to where he stood hid behind the curtain. the Red-headed League." upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark test if we have an answer to our advertisement." hereditary King of Bohemia." death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even quick march!" in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "A call for help, you thought?" "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "And help." as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "If I can be of use." facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who indeed which he could not unravel. once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if and that he would see to anything that turned up. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "Your sister is dead, then?" borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" some mystery and the punishment of some crime." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" people don't know." absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's happened." the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his upon the shelf for the interim." reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could mysterious end." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, promised to bring home. of note-paper. It read in this fashion: The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Not social, then?" not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would Countess of Morcar's?" seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of national property. I was determined that the law should have its she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. me." Doctor, of the paper and the date." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "Tired-looking or fresh?" inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my will be renamed. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. laugh and put his lips to my ear. inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured forehead. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "Dark enough and sinister enough." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "I will try. What is it?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of