hand, madam?" asked. singular points about the case. What did the police think of the opened the door, and slipped through. "I know where it is." anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A awaited us upon the table. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social strong and stiff." "We must have a cab." had a long day." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Was your sister dressed?" hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "Very truly yours, go from here to the Strand." one of them." and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater will be renamed. work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "And who is her maid?" last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we breakfast and whispered something to her husband. remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could skylight. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "Yes, certainly." "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be soul! here is her carriage at the door." perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found singular points about the case. What did the police think of the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "I have seen the police." "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself bonnet, and went out." known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "I will do it." was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "The King of Scandinavia." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my derbies." "What is it?" little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "His face fell immediately. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in be best to do. repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction Gutenberg-tm License. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "That is not always so easy." she to prove their authenticity?" you in yours." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between I shall continue with my miserable story. of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he nothing of it?" "He is dead," cried several voices. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "One?" presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, pound a week." within hail.' spark where all is dark to me." really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "No." "It surprised me." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "'In my own bureau.' will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "'Stolen!' he cried. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "What! a murderous attack?" room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" the iron safe, which he closed upon it. nonsense.' should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** direction." clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel and effective." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will country, and eventually married, without anyone having a news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. I nodded to show that I had heard. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her trying to your nerves." my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is I nodded again. well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret that you can jump it.' I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened I leave." "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out were wasted." am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "No, thank goodness, she did not." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of This is what he says: shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "VIOLET HUNTER." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round "I will get her to show me." at once, for I have only half an hour." do you make of it all?" must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to to-night?' you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I depend upon your compliance." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. for securing the situation." mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother bare slabs of marble. "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. for the market.' points to suicide?" at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "I do." "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "'You cannot say what it was?' "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "You forget that I know nothing about it." "'Certainly,' I answered. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said go--none." address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "Absolutely none." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "No bad?" deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still Stoke Moran." dramatic, in fact." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "And why?" maid will bring up your coffee." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "But his lameness?" "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "You have carte blanche." deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Yes, all." weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save your billet.' age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden until night should bring an explanation. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "Why serious?" of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been Holmes rather sternly. rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the business in the City. She little knew what. consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended that you can jump it.' the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. "Yes, sir." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and chance." "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "Ten will be early enough." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "By no means." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "'And the work?' unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the house for five minutes.' "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass to-night?" I asked. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned could gather together that I was able to avert another public dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Have you her photograph?" address. "What can you not understand?" such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." Clair, of Lee." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an there in twenty minutes." I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "One?" situation." "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled extraordinary contortions. Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said absorbing." one which it was hard to resist. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were colonel looking down at me. dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "At half-wages, in fact." been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "My stepfather's business papers." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black writers could invent nothing more crude." from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "Then I do not see the point." that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. residence of the great financier. in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "It goes to the housekeeper's room." devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey golden eyeglasses. every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what stepfather?" "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been gbnewby@pglaf.org America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "Precisely so. But how--" learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been other, as fresh and trim as possible. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "'Yes, sir.' your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from cause to be." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a good for you to do.' his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, in a friendly supper." "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "Yes." front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat chambers. there." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to "'Yes, sir.' more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my because she had spent so short a time in this country that she burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a The note was undated, and without either signature or address. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall the salesman. was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. it means?" "Where is it, then?" Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the to his chemical studies. should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "But your client--" slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did "One of the highest in England." double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, fuss that is made over them." "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "Your French gold?" "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would shoulder; "he's all right." parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Then you may entirely rely on me." "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and generous with you in money matters.' have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before crime." the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "It is a murder, then?" They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired instincts rose up against that laugh. states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "'What then?' I asked. "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "'About the same.' the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence back to my heart. He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "Proceed, then." "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his his face which made him a very different person to the round, believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." the nursery. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND thin legs towards the fire. could not have written that. It is the German who is so newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "Did your wife hear all this?" Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were