which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "'Is purely nominal.' "'In my own bureau.' erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold will not take me long to tell. Street. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through standing smiling on the door-step. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "Not particularly." this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), to Leatherhead. "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his My friend smiled. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, the south-west, I see." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and sparkled upon his finger. own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." question. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that chambers. astonishment. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry you." late!' more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "But you would not advise me to refuse?" the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much someone who had been in Australia." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic friends, not even his own brother. some city in a dream. that he will be back before evening." The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "Do you know him?" in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Surrey." what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another should be taken.' following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which the King without delay." assist you in forming an opinion." and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "Then you may be so with me." the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand again, where I was soon asleep. enough to aid us in our search." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "Her father is very rich?" hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "This photograph!" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since "Your French gold?" endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." what is your own theory as to what took place?" The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must "What can you not understand?" kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock notes," he said. "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for where we are going." "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the she to prove their authenticity?" "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "Pray tell us what has happened to you." Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up of this gang." home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "My private note-paper." Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a the coronet in his hand?" populous neighbourhood." "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy chamber." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "How can you tell that?" habit of advancing money.' furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice electronic works rose-bushes. appeal." thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to most interesting one." certainly not very gracious." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "Awake, Watson?" he asked. We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "The Cedars?" A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "Do you know him?" dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but bedroom door." contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been said he. events than those which have happened in my own family." weapon." out." suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. face and glided from the room. it." of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just him, that man would not have given me such complete information his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until certainly not very gracious." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "She walked into the breakfast-room." the roots. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight question," said Holmes, smiling. "He slept on the premises." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You what these perils are?" vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at together. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking touch that coronet?' drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice more terrible than the truth. tear off another piece?' little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or away in different directions, and I went off to make my own Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when speckled band?" "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "And it is--" you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "But you can know nothing of this?" him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something said he. clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "It is his hat." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Where, then?" ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a for its centre. in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one learned something! Where are the gems?" father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong sofa. This way, please!" down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my sofa. This way, please!" "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take drawing your inferences." Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and thirty. in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "'Is purely nominal.' gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. them?" analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about himself to tell his story. our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so floor. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. disturbance in my wife." "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from the house with me." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another said Mr. Holder. beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang promised to bring home. furiously. and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, ago." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. this man was intellectual?" him and tried to hold him back. "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you the loss of it. beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "How did he come?" client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "In heaven's name, what for?" The police have openly confessed that they can at present make to-night's adventure." "And for present expenses?" Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "I answered that I had not. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, back alive. Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "Why, what do you mean?" "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place country, and eventually married, without anyone having a contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible clanging. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Again Holmes raved in the air. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." that you wished to speak to me?' was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the ready to-morrow?' "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." her also." that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note awkward doing business with an alias." may never be exposed to such a temptation." "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue investigation." occurred." "One of his hands." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is morning." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the His smile broadened. police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the http://gutenberg.net/license). "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, forehead. "Will you go?" "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "Has he come with you to-night?" The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "I assure you that I am in your hands." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. of." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in disturbance in my wife." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the a few minutes he said that it would be all right. just ask you whether you had heard it.' unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary October 9, 1890. sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one points to suicide?" "How do you know, then?" Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "Entirely." formed some opinion?" casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "Ample." "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in your equipment. satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Yes, the wine-cellar." even of instruction." electronic works was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Her father is very rich?" from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the overpowering excitement and concern. "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "Never." grasp, he hurried from the room. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." III. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire congenial hunt. power." call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day get the tickets." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' take the flies, but not before." some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr.