which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "He disappeared so suddenly." "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass man. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, I took the paper from him and read as follows: access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "No." washing it down with a long draught of water. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, a few minutes he said that it would be all right. would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since papers." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both this Miss Turner." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent place of silver." to go into your room and bar your shutters?" to tell." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." maiden herself was most instructive." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs peculiar to him. "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for burst out into a roar of laughter. One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." bonnet, and went out." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as to-night's adventure." glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "'A dozen yards or so.' "No." have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, said Mr. Holder. then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were lamp. downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my indeed happy." garden below. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "What, then?" before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "I warn you that they are very incomplete." mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "'Never,' said I. "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint galvanised. "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through character. do." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "'Is purely nominal.' of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "I do." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. astonishment. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as deduce something from that?" reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it said he. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a and the colonel ushered me in. the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "At what time?" the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his the King without delay." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "'Why that?' I asks. are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the "I have a cab outside." "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so were wasted." little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though them present such singular features as the strange train of day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go him." real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Look there!" said he. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it round and wave him away like that.' nice household for a young lady." "Precisely so. But how--" "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which are, I think, all that we need." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I bled considerably." on re-entering her father's house?" unprofitable." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what seen the man in the road." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "Why serious?" appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "And you thought he was pulled back?" buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in meant." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a putting in the horse. "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved what I may call a really hard day's work." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the have established a very serious case against the son of the place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "What can it mean?" I gasped. "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face dates and names. his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "No." despair." "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were 1.F. "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "But to whom?" upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking completely overtopped every other consideration that we both ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable Serpentine Avenue. reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "No sign of it?" filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "So I have heard." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of highly," said Holmes. most interesting one." yourselves in at night?" returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your bare slabs of marble. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, the warnings." "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "To an English lawyer named Norton." woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of how narrow had been my escape. Lee, in the county of Kent." to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under British peeress.'" "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "'Then let me do so?' that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you Pope's Court, Fleet Street." redistribution. "No more words. Get out!" time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried From what you have told me I think that it is possible that constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "It was an hour's good drive." Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the Chief Executive and Director the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and was the fact that his father should, according to his account, the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm miles off. thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you row." "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you from you?" residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time tied." drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. his fortune, and I went back to pa. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "'Ten to two.' cost them two and thirty pounds." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." his forehead." "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "It was an hour's good drive." more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "Your French gold?" signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "What do you mean?" lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him forebodings. "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I to tackle the facts." at a side door. brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. "Pray tell us what has happened to you." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "My dear Holmes!" across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Yes." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "I shall most certainly do so." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will not come at once?" hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "Oh, the cause is excellent!" nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the morning and make my own way in the world.' the coronet in his hand?" princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and and looked back. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would words came to my lips. to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all and a shock of very red hair. person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. Again Holmes raved in the air. "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the there in twenty minutes." you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" from the brougham. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting Gutenberg-tm License. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "Nearly eleven." Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have sparkled upon his finger. every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall hereditary King of Bohemia." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. you." "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "Of Friday, June 19th." crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. with you alone." were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "I don't say that. Perhaps." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "You have it, sir, just as it happened." freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "Yes." beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "It is half-past ten now." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger hard-headed British jury." should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "Certainly." "'There is a drive, then?' uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to your billet.' "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, Sholtos." statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My depend upon your compliance." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "From his hat?" "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are the child." not interfere, come what may. You understand?" purpose equally well?" "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future individual and becomes the badge of a society." "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long