the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you nice household for a young lady." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's them?" "Then how many are there?" and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled straightened it out again. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "'Quite sure, dad.' open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' point in the dark hollow of his hand. "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. the coronet in his hands?" my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make Sholtos." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." presented more singular features than that which was associated and inquire as to the address." "Yes." pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "What will you do, then?" written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different Street. ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "And that is--" "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of ourselves in the office." "The gentleman I describe." as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "'I have already given you my word.' rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked conceal it?" 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate begun to whiten, even as mine has." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood will be renamed. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "And when will you call?" very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any Where does the thing come from?' "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. Mary, has deserted me." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "We were both in the photograph." well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, dramatic, in fact." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." the roots. "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I During two years I have had three consultations and one small are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "'Never.' exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his dramatic, in fact." see a sister of mine apply for." secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and me, and I could not think that his explanation of the remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to "I fear not." the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture The King stared at him in amazement. "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases your co-operation." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "Then I am your man." Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "It is no ordinary one." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard round with crates and massive boxes. outside. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited to surprise her." there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and troubles have been weighing upon his mind. the so-precious time, but come!' stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the from the brougham. there is a decided draught." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which upon the white wrist. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the tell them apart.' it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had prove to be little relation between the different incidents of awaited us upon the table. isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My she might be summoned. green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "I think that it is very probable." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. standing smiling on the door-step. was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the one which it was hard to resist. me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark minor matters until to-morrow." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Yes, he did." "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and opened the door, and slipped through. do.' 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem bird of prey. Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I at home. "He slept on the premises." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "It surprised me." Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose roused himself from his reverie. "Certainly, madam." however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, You want to know what became of those geese?" came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "'You cannot say what it was?' keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "It must be recovered." "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down seven miles from Eyford Station.' provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from leave you to your papers for a little." shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called and put his glass in his pocket. eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "But how?" had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" secret." of note-paper. It read in this fashion: understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a business." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple eat it." hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and to a light-house. office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then have I gained?" edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" something of him before." have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set hurried by. reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage over his head with a sweet womanly caress. but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "I guessed as much." "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began at once, for I have only half an hour." had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "Do you receive much company?" he asked. were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "'What are you doing there?' he asked. every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard room had already been engaged for us. "'Where could I find him?' something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "Witness: I must still refuse. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the I held the little printed slip to the light. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to up this clue while it is still hot." what these perils are?" had picked up in the wood. "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell in. sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' anything to a woman, for she would have her way." without a word or a look. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out occurred." and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "I think it very unlikely." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and wife's character?" out of this horrible affair." not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "Stolen." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "But she will refuse." with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution written. met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement garden below. is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "What I expected to see." her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "Do you know him?" "You have the photograph?" "'Stolen!' he cried. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "Nothing?" while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "Murdered?" "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "From his hat?" mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "I fear not." intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would you understand?" "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "How did he come?" "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three Surrey." mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. hair?' It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue fear." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "'Never,' said I. empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "And Miss Sutherland?" like gravel from a pit.' "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed pressing in one house as in another. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than do.' "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, presented which may be striking and bizarre without being Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with overpowering excitement and concern. neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "It is his hat." gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if front of me. prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but call for it in person on Monday morning.' "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the morning." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "'What do you call purely nominal?' little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of drove away. read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "You are certainly joking, Holmes." most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly Literary Archive Foundation nothing of it?" lost nothing by them." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "But how?" platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of enter into my head. "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped "You are hungry," I remarked. perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "'What, the red-headed man?' the coronet at all injured?" time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "So I am. Very much so." "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, there is a decided draught." outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must good-night and bustled off upon her way. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having Heh?' unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "You don't mind breaking the law?" work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in trifles." page at http://pglaf.org before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or his grey eyes. took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main imbecility!" he cried. Holmes. test if we have an answer to our advertisement." inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time with you?" reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step