"Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "My stepfather's business papers." question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his views." nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "Well, some hundreds of times." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we recover the gem." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "That was it, sir." appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he asked with his eyes open. lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "But to whom?" It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low call you and give you the chance." Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "It is very clear." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was is entirely a question of barometric pressure." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "Here?" pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a Young McCarthy must be got off, however." http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it indeed which he could not unravel. thought that she would have been so carried away." to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "Was she in good spirits?" can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "You horrify me." for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a to tackle the facts." transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? enter Dr. Roylott's room." hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after pound a week." "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up throat." conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' photograph?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no him to go away.' with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "Precisely." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from questionable one." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, me where it went to?" believe that I should never have any practice at all. lips." relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. should be so warm over such a trifle." that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "Yes, sir." gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that his face which made him a very different person to the round, "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert and effective." "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine Farm upon the left." league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling frequently gained my first real insight into the character of prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage will be renamed. clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "So it appears." the iron safe, which he closed upon it. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small easy-going way." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my http://www.gutenberg.net much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, your room." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had me." "But how did you gain them?" seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered night.' said he. "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security and wait." "It is half-past ten now." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as said I. the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this room?" an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little have been better. It is all right." "My stepfather's business papers." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a appeared upon the scene." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the guilty parties." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "My private note-paper." lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have passage and a tap at the door. past. "No good news?" in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in bled considerably." have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was derbies." "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "And it is--" which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning morning." I. place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "I was afraid that you were engaged." I think that I could be of assistance to you." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my leave you to your papers for a little." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, when your master had gone out." "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became morning." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he "Why serious?" leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "I should like to see him very much." and your relations to her." of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so interests were the same as his." the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, you in your example." him nearly every evening." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner said I. "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, obstinate." sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." digesting their breakfasts at home." "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "Not him." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "Ah!" before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates out." web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as Holmes' thin, eager face. "To the police?" house for five minutes.' certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight Gutenberg-tm License. quickly through a disagreeable task. inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman will he say when he returns?" these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "And who is her maid?" as he folded up the epistle. "I guessed as much." "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story will find little credit to be gained out of this case." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The coat-tails." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "And I to find an enemy." seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "No?" "And how?" "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "Then you may be so with me." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported which I could not give. He asked for Alice. against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough III. my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know me. You must get home instantly and act." Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "Quite so." passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "It is possible." was feeling which was the fattest.' "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "You have carte blanche." "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going the dangers which encompass me." his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I when your master had gone out." that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. http://www.gutenberg.net say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father have an American origin." "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "May I see it?" is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day enough to aid us in our search." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four know what is wrong with it.' the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of believe that I should never have any practice at all. there has been an enclosure here!" question," said Holmes, smiling. down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "'You doubt its value?' he asked. story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' Dr. Gregory B. Newby which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what get the tickets." "But I am all in the dark." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "No sign of it?" "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" comes from the middle window." Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness be sorry for having acted so harshly." "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always fat-encircled eyes. in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "One?" any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." said I. saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a suggested at once that there must be a communication between the conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin golden eyeglasses. window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of who was a member of your goose club." "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your entirely lost his self-respect." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "Witness: It was. definite end. forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "Can I be of assistance?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "What can it mean?" I gasped. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was together. station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an License. You must require such a user to return or himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "Entirely." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." your billet.' "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the this man was intellectual?" not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid cigar and let me expound." shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. nothing of it?" of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and suspect him." word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat call for protection in the marriage market, for the present which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "You think so, too?" secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me recover the gem." the morning and make my own way in the world.' he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms always that they were such commands as a lady might with there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "So it appears." it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. views." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two