beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door wall." the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the Farm upon the left." again before evening." read it out to me." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "I think that it is very probable." "None." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "My Mary? Impossible!" "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "Yes." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had was lame." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and "Not yet." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some that I am arrested." lost his Christmas dinner." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to the coronet in his hand?" them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of children over to America with him, so that I found myself without "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not it. half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in annoyance, but no jest. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which galvanised. entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case goes." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "About a month then." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." once more to my work. adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his there." strength." to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that house for five minutes.' 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in cheerful." lost his Christmas dinner." myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very that I can to serve you." suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would galvanised. luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of voice. half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the there." "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss presented more singular features than that which was associated would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we cause to be." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "I will try. What is it?" cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is himself. the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change enter Dr. Roylott's room." "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, to some other building. good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the "He disappeared so suddenly." heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily I shall continue with my miserable story. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" your own bird, so if you wish--" closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled newspaper selections." heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." if only as a check to my own memory." "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For observed. "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "And you thought he was pulled back?" Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all unprofitable." "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! pierced for earrings?" to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look handed it to him. had no one to advise her at such a crisis." afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the enough to aid us in our search." impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my three fields round his house, and there he would take his sneer upon his pale face. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "I am armed." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "Where, then, is my wife?" knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all the loss of it. our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. weighed down with some great anxiety. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had upon the sideboard." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. the date of his supposed suicide." "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered happened." conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police of the efforts of the United States government and of the better half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that the house with me." your most interesting statement." telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "My stepfather's business papers." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the them present such singular features as the strange train of your sleep?' pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in I took the paper from him and read as follows: seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "But she could not love him." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "But how?" telegram would bring me down to your help." decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "Yes, from Horsham." again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "But your client--" room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his head. So long, then!" into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my lost nothing by them." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen forehead. bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and seven miles from Eyford Station.' corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the conclusions. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I is a common subject for conversation. no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice use an arc-and-compass breastpin." are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "How do you know, then?" "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "Nearly eleven." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but my former friend and companion. inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "You are certainly joking, Holmes." and glanced through. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the round and wave him away like that.' Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "Holmes, the busybody!" man. to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. "Did you observe the colour?" his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the name is different." the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "There is the writing." the date of his supposed suicide." His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between people don't know." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." it." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook footfalls from the street. dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office window when the police appeared." Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs man. description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your started for the Temple to see my husband. the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round chair. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you shall use the carriage to-night." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "'Entirely.' it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free Lestrade of Scotland Yard." vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about that he has suffered." "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. Leadenhall Street--and--" some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the the address that was given us in the advertisement. "The best possible." refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "A thing like a cleaver," said he. some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "Very murderous indeed." I nodded again. the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "But he might be a bachelor." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Seven!" I answered. not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The the south-west, I see." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Perhaps I have." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "'And the work?' "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "But the mystery?" "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having to-morrow." wedding?" electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "Then I am your man." revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is down. "In answer to an advertisement." has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were chemical work which was so dear to him. impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" said he. terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both noble correspondent could be. some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only carpenter." Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "No, finished." "And is that all?" carried out of court." slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress as the one I chose?' his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "'About the same.' "And on what day did he meet his death?" of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper bell. Holmes whistled. He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy I held the little printed slip to the light. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City I shall communicate with you." "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly records." to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "What will you do, then?" "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who quite distinctive." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "Yes." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to way in everything. tell him that I know him to be innocent." Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. papers on the sundial.'" pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "His face fell immediately.