"I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography plantation.' "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was locked." shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which I nodded to show that I had heard. the coroner come to?" much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." in this note: someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "Did he not advertise?" had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his his fortune, and I went back to pa. "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "Never." ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "Yes, all." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." relief. sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "And what then?" "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she could gather together that I was able to avert another public "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not the Red-headed League." "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate a good hundred miles off by now." station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "But of what society?" was keenly on my guard against him. "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let interest. They are important, you understand, without being soul! here is her carriage at the door." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to God! What an exposure! What can I do?" conclusions. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "'Never,' said I. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "He disappeared so suddenly." fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the more solid." built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "I cannot as yet see any connection." "And your father? Did you tell him?" and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom was shining brightly. surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "'What do you call purely nominal?' ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the and the whole place is in a blaze." word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "Can I be of assistance?" "Yes." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I had formerly been in part my own. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time the bed, and you in that chair." there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "Yes, the wine-cellar." "May I see it?" "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it skylight. the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and minor matters until to-morrow." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and before, for it was considerably after midnight. "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "Absolutely none." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else people don't know." little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary asked. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the we went to search for him, face downward in a little is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "About a month then." felt?" "That is easily got." "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "Indeed! Whose, then?" and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen Holmes' room. however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "You are hungry," I remarked. could go. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "And how did you find out?" notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel mysterious end." fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one me." hopeless attempt at recovering them." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she affair. scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "'I have heard so.' "'It is locked up,' I answered. wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary strode off upon his way. "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "You have a clue?" 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "Very. But will he see it?" smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are Street. than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing wall." squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Very. But will he see it?" so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "In the cells." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers in him." plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, will be renamed. "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much grasp, he hurried from the room. fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "I should wish to." later, upon the night of May 2nd." reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a my little problems." exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's not fit the lock." "You did not overhear what they said?" that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the I held the little printed slip to the light. nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming Serpentine Avenue. that you saw all that I did." solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "By train from Waterloo." is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" had no one to advise her at such a crisis." effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of to miss it." return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "You were travelling in the States?" "Not in the least." and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his carried out of court." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, quick march!" "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Yes, sir." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving before, for it was considerably after midnight. Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "It's nothing of the kind." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "On the contrary, this is the right side." "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. sentimental considerations in the background which would induce although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "No, I had a dozen." tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND one of the states of the Union." that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "'A dozen yards or so.' slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, grasp, he hurried from the room. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have thin legs towards the fire. noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I in him." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring said he. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low upon the sideboard." ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, The police have openly confessed that they can at present make in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is wedding?" colonel looking down at me. If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "The murder was done with it." wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips shag which I had seen upon the previous night. telegram would bring me down to your help." Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "To an English lawyer named Norton." father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too to-morrow." written, and locked the door of the office after me. soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all not as remarkable as your advertisement." informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "And for present expenses?" details." me. You must get home instantly and act." villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not always that they were such commands as a lady might with "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "And Irene Adler?" for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "That's no good." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the *** START: FULL LICENSE *** did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his infinite languor in his face. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a the coroner come to?" already been minutely examined." "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "But I have heard all that you have heard." deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "I am armed." justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far some city in a dream. stepfather?" indeed happy." "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "My dear Holmes!" "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, here." "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress disappearance of these gems?" set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he of the way of danger. accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the think, you have already met." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "Just look it up, then." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain system of imprisonment?" have an American origin." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "Come in!" said Holmes. of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able think, you have already met." never to learn it at all." shoulder. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations window when the police appeared." through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us threw himself down with his face to the pillow. his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Holmes. have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. the inquest, and which are worth considering." of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day minor matters until to-morrow." The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "Stolen." to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed John Swain, of St. Augustine. There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. events than those which have happened in my own family." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "It goes to the housekeeper's room." this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "No." public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to written. appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of be sorry for having acted so harshly." "That is it on the dressing-table." Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you have had none more fantastic than this." find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace anything to do with the matter?" all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no is four-and-twenty." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "There are none." upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. writers could invent nothing more crude." "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for see me here to avoid scandal." constraint." there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he and all of them with the keenest interest. "Thank you. Pray proceed." round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things "'What would be the hours?' I asked. a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want system of imprisonment?" views." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" was a lad." scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "He said too much." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "I should like to see him very much." of Mr. Rucastle's." "Deserted you?" "In the cells." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "But what will you do?" "You have compromised yourself seriously." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "I have solved it." "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take without a word or a look. "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "'I have heard so.' tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man were new raised from a basin. just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner with her." prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day wife's character?" both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "I should wish to." unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "We were both in the photograph." sofa. This way, please!" I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up."