of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "Not particularly." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor in his power. "Then how many are there?" should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of away to you." Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, future lives." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." your room." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son ways including including checks, online payments and credit card details." locked." The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "No bad?" side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked the iron safe, which he closed upon it. the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with shaken than I had ever seen him. really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "I cannot imagine." "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an and the whole place is in a blaze." pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "Of what?" opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. Pope's Court. "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four works. and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "I was mad--insane." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on "Never to return." lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or been deceived." "And when will you call?" "Was there a secret marriage?" copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "An accident, I presume?" redistribution. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by noting anything else of interest. your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should delirious. and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was searched, without anything being found which could incriminate rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' ran thus: it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "Seven!" I answered. deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong have an American origin." When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. said I. "No legal papers or certificates?" some terrible trap for her." knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that fat-encircled eyes. "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "In San Francisco, a year ago." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain "Where is it, then?" same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face the ceiling. though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. notes," he said. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." important." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his in your London, you will know that the office of the company is the iron safe, which he closed upon it. not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice bled considerably." gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning touch that coronet?' three fields round his house, and there he would take his retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "I would pay ten." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the happened." keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend passage and a tap at the door. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads over his head with a sweet womanly caress. had a long day." would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our not use it unless it is absolutely needed." exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "Certainly." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "VIOLET HUNTER." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "'Yes, sir.' the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, best detective that ever lived. most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't highly," said Holmes. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "And how?" reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "Yes, all." has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. annoyance, but no jest. business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." as this. Pray let me have the details." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "Not yet." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the gone. "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. plantation.' admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings "By all means." that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another ready to-morrow?' questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "Very well, sir. And this stone?" He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "Yes, that is the Crown." Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. Holmes' thin, eager face. we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick crackling voice. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his dead, shall be safe with us." sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "It is no ordinary one." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "I say it is." gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not so.' of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, and a shock of very red hair. "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and on re-entering her father's house?" words came to my lips. product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and salesman. trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "What is it?" Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. "Yes, they were peculiar boots." "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' colour had been driven from his face. "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' now. It seems that there had been some informality about their or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "'Yes.' coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "My photograph." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and fear." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem might help us?" to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. gone. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "I was afraid that you were engaged." fuss that is made over them." out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "Where, then?" clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck soul! here is her carriage at the door." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "How about poison?" sparkled upon his finger. with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and a few minutes he said that it would be all right. pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "Whose house is it?" remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my the inner apartment." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "Yes." "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless to a light-house. forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few the driver. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third already been minutely examined." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: cigars in the box." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his both be extremely obliged.' yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing III. people don't know." lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been footfalls from the street. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently that before taking the final step I should like to submit the strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "He said that you could solve anything." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, crackling voice. "And how?" his eyes and forehead. lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "'Where could I find him?' previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that stood on the top of it. "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "Of Friday, June 19th." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation skylight. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, laugh and put his lips to my ear. brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, that threaten you." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There fled together." right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we 11:15.'