protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "In the cells." "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had several quiet little villages up there." be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "We must have a cab." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "Dr. Becher's." "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "No more words. Get out!" works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg answer." "Perfectly so." "Not in a good cause." Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that narrative." I. "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural felt the room to be a little close.' truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon me what he had done with the three missing stones. "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it invisible to me," I remarked. "Ah, but I was recommended to you." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, Stoke Moran." do.' concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had when your master had gone out." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "I was mad--insane." "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "There is the writing." Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "By all means." it right.' looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' to talk it over. cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking suggested at once that there must be a communication between the matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "And for present expenses?" "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great the stones. a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: of it with the greatest attention. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you forecastle of an emigrant ship. ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm careless servant girl?" We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when have not had my rubber." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. plantation.' the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and of fine shops and stately business premises that they really abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "But his left-handedness." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, in the dead of the night?' between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found me upon any point which I do not make clear." square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "One of his hands." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the what is your own theory as to what took place?" have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "What is it?" "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining very morning of my second wedding." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the his knees, staring into the fire. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "No good news?" "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you future lives." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "And how?" events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an McCarthy." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. kindly on the shoulder. been deceived." The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," purpose equally well?" return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed ourselves in the office." too. been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "What I expected to see." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, back alive. he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right do.' grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He writer." have not had my rubber." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very mystery!" erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some how narrow had been my escape. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "Yes, he did." was used.' "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is lamp. unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may way: and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great tear off another piece?' of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from highly," said Holmes. seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was outside. "But how did you gain them?" "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored down. look upon these things in a different way." writers could invent nothing more crude." tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the During two years I have had three consultations and one small "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "The Cedars?" Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "How do you know, then?" "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "But to whom?" the very letters. But what is this written above them?' pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "10th. John Swain cleared. "You did not overhear what they said?" "He said that you could solve anything." which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. hour?' "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "But not more so than I to find you." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is to me. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over It may be so in this case, also." his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, II. should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "He might." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle photograph?" what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he keep the flames under. has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of empty. noble correspondent could be. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even or in danger--" Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded enter Dr. Roylott's room." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to is so. I know all about McCarthy." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "I was sure that I might rely on you." swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "Pray continue your narrative." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "And did you observe any change in her then?" "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is the coronet in his hand?" "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "And for present expenses?" managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left if I call to-morrow?" having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "Where did you address your letters, then?" importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came of Fenchurch Street." all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of we went to search for him, face downward in a little statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of you give your casting vote to?" "'What are you doing there?' he asked. advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some present." "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside enough to aid us in our search." wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "We must sit without light. He would see it through the my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it that I can to serve you." the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and you in yours." through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the lamp in his hand. do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City should be taken.' as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "And what did you see?" you, my dear young lady?' round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." meanly of me." "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather Eyford." clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we fact, we may call it conclusive." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "It came here." face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other in his hands." with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and used to be." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "'I am sure that I do not know.' "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and success. traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest nonsense.' into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "The vanishing of the lady." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "What then?" a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the vault. He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in strength." entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the in my life." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and this as likely?" returned to France?" roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "Why did you beat the pavement?" 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the "And how in the world did you find them?" Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the the very letters. But what is this written above them?' brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' at home. made him keep the appointment." desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled as he remarks, very much against the son." certainly do as you advise." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. ceremony." not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "Yes?" "Yes." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND in a friendly supper." particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." of the efforts of the United States government and of the better laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "But you can know nothing of this?" conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "Not social, then?" in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, them, and came down just as you departed. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent is worth.' been." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark said I. have an American origin." thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a "And it is--" union?" hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her the running down." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was round and wave him away like that.' itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by singular points about the case. What did the police think of the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has fat-encircled eyes. "You don't mind breaking the law?" the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign learned something! Where are the gems?" out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly giving me time to thank him. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting Project Gutenberg-tm works. sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my