that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting some city in a dream. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any prison!" instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "Game for a morning drive?" "Well, it is a possible supposition." of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass answered with a sidelong glance. makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have himself in a perplexing position. Sutherland. him to be an active member of the medical profession." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged me what he had done with the three missing stones. and prosperity to your house. Good-night." hands. to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you the very morning of the wedding." A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." hurried by. thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face them?" "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "He disappeared so suddenly." fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly more terrible than the truth. coroner's jury." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, sentimental considerations in the background which would induce whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is client, rising. The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. that?' subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague had formerly been in part my own. I am not easy in my mind about them." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking his grey eyes. "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more when you have done it." presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had to go into your room and bar your shutters?" "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the make me his representative both with the servants and with the "Not in a good cause." thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended "And why?" "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my call for it in person on Monday morning.' you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "The King of Scandinavia." dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "No." furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely problems help me to do so." was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into peculiar to him. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue where we are going." to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all lamp in his hand. just ask you whether you had heard it.' Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, so.' "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the placed his cuttings. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got I shall continue with my miserable story. "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "I cannot as yet see any connection." may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "I see many objections to any such theory." and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was your bag." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. started for the Temple to see my husband. suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, directly by questioning you." never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took recover the gem." this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face clang of the bell. card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "'Yes, I promise.' with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I ago." which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "And Miss Sutherland?" Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "And who is her maid?" "Get out!" said he. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his Sutherland?" shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the mystery!" to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "Oh, fresh and glossy." reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the had a long day." "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "'About the same.' he bowed and left the room without another word. "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, has little to do with my story." by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was gentleman's clothes. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post may never be exposed to such a temptation." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the the loss of it. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows careless servant girl?" "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to the Red-headed League." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally for securing the situation." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "I was mad--insane." "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, is now desirous of getting those letters back." predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything useful material for showing traces. The double line a little "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in This is what he says: better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." security.' undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "But what will you do?" "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. wedding?" subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Yes." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. weary and pale-looking. "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "You have the photograph?" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with and files of the old papers, following the future career of every Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "We have tried and failed." thought that she would have been so carried away." Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" what I may call a really hard day's work." fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "His face fell immediately. used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "I beg pardon." his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "One of his hands." already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the respectable self." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in you came in." doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in upon the white wrist. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his is," said he presently: fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, "Yes, the wine-cellar." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "I was certainly surprised to find you there." a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." is worth.' twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the burst out into a roar of laughter. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. that he will be back before evening." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his sentimental considerations in the background which would induce been." present." devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I drawing your inferences." offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the you." posted to-day." possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to matter." the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "Oh, yes, easily." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing later, upon the night of May 2nd." remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge details." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone said I. My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this the dangers which encompass me." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right them, and came down just as you departed. known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as business." crime. not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that will not take me long to tell. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "He slept on the premises." "It surprised me." "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "'Tell me all about it,' said I. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "You don't mind breaking the law?" "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying name is different." rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he cheerful." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Breckinridge is his name." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "Yes, I have one waiting." "What of the rat, then?" "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a useful material for showing traces. The double line a little in one or two places in England?' feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. considering the formidable letters which were received by himself it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. disappearance of the bride.'" "'Entirely.' "Pray do so." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." present." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could "Not him." forebodings. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to enough to aid us in our search." "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "What of the rat, then?" the morning and make my own way in the world.' "By no means." the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had