present." Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "They are typewritten," I remarked. bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be the driver. young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "What!" he roared. answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the once more to my work. "It was an hour's good drive." that I may have something better before very many minutes are She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, "So I heard. You have him here?" the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship Where does the thing come from?' carpenter." conclusions. writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Who was the criminal, then?" more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I written, and locked the door of the office after me. "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "You don't mind breaking the law?" "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "Proceed, then." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he crime. it." high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate Stoke Moran." a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "What is it, then--a fire?" understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not orange pips. clang of the bell. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked will take you up to see the machine.' steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose "'Stolen!' he cried. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "Oh, fresh and glossy." "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." the armchair which I pushed forward for him. overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that promised to bring home. "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. a monotonous occupation." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner asked with his eyes open. questionable one." Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. 1.E.9. "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." should be taken.' enough to aid us in our search." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were hour." connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would to where he stood hid behind the curtain. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our he bowed and left the room without another word. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and him, that man would not have given me such complete information problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." off." "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "Then I shall certainly come." window when the police appeared." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, that the gas is not laid on in his house?" only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous very peculiar words of the dying woman?" in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, bears upon the case?" the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. your only hope of safety." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of burst into a hearty fit of laughter. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. "But what will you do?" "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "But he might be a bachelor." separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the his cane at the bell-pull. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his crime." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "The Coroner: What do you mean? we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "I don't believe it." placed his cuttings. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking less than 26s. 4d. the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "What will you do, then?" "Why did you pick him?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from me. mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One kind enough to tell me what I should do." vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "No, but the enclosure is." my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were away to you." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "What is it, then--a fire?" coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "My photograph." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the and a shock of very red hair. tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet washing it down with a long draught of water. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. for the market.' to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort highly," said Holmes. "And that is--" to surprise her." machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his returning from some small jollification and was making his way younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "Entirely." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "What then?" was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very learned something! Where are the gems?" determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel I was concerned in it." my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm this unhappy family?" arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." may have an influence upon European history." "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united see a sister of mine apply for." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers believe that I should never have any practice at all. read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how works. See paragraph 1.E below. "Yes, sir." wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. copied or distributed: ill-usage at the hands of fortune. becomes even more simple." afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we any." a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and companion quietly. upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to Mrs. Toller serenely. drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! lumber-room." the running down." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go pity, because in other respects you would really have done very as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or certainly do as you advise." family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really the coronet in his hands?" even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" then?" this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now Holmes' thin, eager face. Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott lips." "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can her also." contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same Countess of Morcar's?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" promised to bring home. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "Nothing." however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "And it is--" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Yes." "Witness: Nothing definite. and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "Where to?" with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "Was your sister dressed?" strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He other means.' really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, such attractions and accomplishments?' later, upon the night of May 2nd." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were fashion which was peculiar to him. station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, "What will you say?" "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this My friend smiled. houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "My dear Holmes!" "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic shall use the carriage to-night." "Yes, but only for you and me." calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "Yes." "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "Very truly yours, reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, orange pips. Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to his face which made him a very different person to the round, "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "So I heard. You have him here?" weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "Yes." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "So I am. Very much so." arrangements." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was Again Holmes raved in the air. Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the brandy and water within his reach. "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they just called myself is not exactly my own." weary and pale-looking. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the over part of the map. "What do you read?" Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "'It is locked up,' I answered. into the room. room had already been engaged for us. unclasping of his long thin hands. it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the you, my dear young lady?' "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." key turn in the lock." 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. wall." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it chemical work which was so dear to him. We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had existence." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which disappearance of these gems?" "'About the same.' will find little credit to be gained out of this case." tell me that you intended to go into harness." second window is the one that I jumped from." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was respectable self." brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "'And the work?' feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "This concluded the examination of the witness." deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by