property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she chance at all." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon pressing in one house as in another. "And when will you call?" "Then he might have called to you?" little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and of them has the shutters up.' case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would nonsense.' for securing the situation." seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "But she will refuse." and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her searched, without anything being found which could incriminate tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich in your London, you will know that the office of the company is you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell quickly through a disagreeable task. "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "Not social, then?" the side-table." was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. mystery!" in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "Never." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "But his left-handedness." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies closely." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an is so. I know all about McCarthy." single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "Why, it's a dummy," said he. husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "'Not at all. I only doubt--' chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord a room. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "It is no ordinary one." cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "To the police?" "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; lumber-room." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the to-night?' position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you you." becomes even more simple." "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "Oh, fresh and glossy." was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "Because he was handy and would come cheap." new acquaintance to Baker Street. one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his of fine shops and stately business premises that they really "But to whom?" - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To about. The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending me. You must get home instantly and act." "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." is now desirous of getting those letters back." its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came remarked. client, rising. over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to But Holmes shook his head gravely. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "Never." "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "From his hat?" "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "'In my own bureau.' dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "Deserted you?" homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "But she could not love him." woman." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Bought." regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "You think that he is dead?" "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official "In San Francisco, a year ago." "That is also quite modern," said the lady. shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to "'About the same.' thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick in the hope of finding them." and put his glass in his pocket. "Bought." It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, man. I know him from the photograph." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Not in the least." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "And you thought he was pulled back?" or other trace. But how on earth--" "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He drove away. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. address. breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some she to prove their authenticity?" "Of Friday, June 19th." you." recover the gem." passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "Yes, sir." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "But she will refuse." "And how did you find out?" "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I she slowly sank and died without having recovered her rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are strength in the others." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but were unconscious?" Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I that I may have something better before very many minutes are for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before straightened it out again. "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off few hundred pounds.' until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "It must be recovered." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. and have this put in the evening papers." gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very Holmes' thin, eager face. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled noble correspondent could be. "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the empty. in the hope of finding them." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this best detective that ever lived. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had murdered man." and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "Witness: I must still refuse. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "He said that you could solve anything." cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a the very morning of the wedding." a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "Was there a secret marriage?" fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause in a friendly supper." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "The King of Scandinavia." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. Literary Archive Foundation course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "How long did she speak to this Alice?" "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and notes," he said. certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite in your London, you will know that the office of the company is wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a suddenly upon us." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss returning from some small jollification and was making his way dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. "He disappeared so suddenly." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to gentleman's clothes. "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town think, you have already met." income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, that threaten you." hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. developed." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, prison!" their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side to surprise her." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to the roots. collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, it? Did I buy the geese off you?" expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he not come at once?" hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the presented more singular features than that which was associated He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, happened." which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it suggested at once that there must be a communication between the and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must breakfast?" defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you the window, rose as we entered. dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "And how have you succeeded?" pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "'There is a drive, then?' astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester you found me to-night--and running through the front room she you in yours." be sorry for having acted so harshly." "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's II. and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, as this. Pray let me have the details." "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "No." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, society." and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "I will, Miss Turner." so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "Seven!" I answered. typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "What have you to say now?" "The doctor?" including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, already referred to. gigantic client. and effective." foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed correct than the official force." surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The to some other building. papers diligently of late, have you not?" "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "It is true that I have been generally successful." one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of "'What, the red-headed man?' the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who Holmes' room. 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "Yes." "Why serious?" premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. "What, then?" that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "'There is a drive, then?' but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "Your presence might be invaluable." reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive intrusion of other matters." once more for Briony Lodge. last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of this unhappy family?" above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that against a man in the prime of life?" caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, The telegram which we eventually received came late one night owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than know that the truth is known." I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "And I." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment know that the truth is known." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in you in yours." in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "That is unusual in a young girl." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me conduct the inquiry." into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "Deserted you?" flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there