forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from second window is the one that I jumped from." reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' do.' "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "Perhaps I have." was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save beg that you will break it off." "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the it. "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. happened." the station." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was investigation." without a word or a look. battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "To an English lawyer named Norton." went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he copied or distributed: "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without power." "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "You heard nothing yourself last night?" severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could strode off upon his way. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. were unconscious?" all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, face and glided from the room. "I cannot imagine." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were The note was undated, and without either signature or address. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for the dangers which encompass me." "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a help us in this matter." purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "I see many objections to any such theory." across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the is worth.' "'Ten to two.' his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I had picked up in the wood. "My Mary? Impossible!" "That's no good." "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' was lame." wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "What will you say?" had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Entirely." "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some For additional contact information: after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "How did you deduce the select?" while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which "And leave your case unfinished?" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a had this final quarrel? "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a some terrible trap for her." over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you figure." calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The "Always." official police." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "'What then?' I asked. The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Yes, certainly." I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first Leave Paddington by the 11:15." chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some DAMAGE. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "If so, much may have happened between." things are very often connected not with the larger but with the salesman. without a word or a look. all-comprehensive glances. "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "Eh? What was that?" Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he bachelor.' delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "Dark enough and sinister enough." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went be best to do. "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. hard-headed British jury." call for protection in the marriage market, for the present a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "Yes." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were bachelor.' cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between business." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the tapping his fingers upon the table. the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "'Not at all. I only doubt--' heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, The events in question occurred in the early days of my possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "And what did you learn from him?" most interesting one." began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and my little problems." Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice did not hear it also.' "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "What then?" idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the "Yes." 'I should be able to look after that for you.' Doctor, of the paper and the date." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "I am sure." for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." said he. "Was there a secret marriage?" We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. grasp, he hurried from the room. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "No good news?" "'Entirely.' circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. definite end. has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught 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 "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my politicians who had been sent down from the North. practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "I came to find a friend." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be begun to whiten, even as mine has." he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "No good news?" time." boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had he. Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a taking in every detail of the apartment. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if best detective that ever lived. conclusions. at home. "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "Precisely." brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and had a long day." out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "Yes." Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' mysterious business." me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became imbecility!" he cried. upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one crowd. examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "Perfectly so." both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael cigar and let me expound." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "Dr. Becher's." shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few system of imprisonment?" Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by gigantic client. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "And now?" I asked. opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "Not particularly." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been later, upon the night of May 2nd." the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the plantation.' Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "Precisely." hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between flock.' had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might crime." the dangers which encompass me." presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you "You forget that I know nothing about it." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "Oh, yes, easily." lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "'Then let me do so?' "Was he the only applicant?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you fishes. his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a strode off upon his way. stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the bears upon the case?" my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "What will you do, then?" free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such you." it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must learned something! Where are the gems?" "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel families. Now for the facts. "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. 1.F. "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the chambers. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. foresight and the moral retrogression?" which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself of campaign. and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, details." "What can it mean?" I gasped. scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend of Fenchurch Street." "This concluded the examination of the witness." without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "There are none." thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small had died away into the silence from which it rose. passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down there were so many in the whole country as were brought together the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. strong and stiff." "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "Because he was handy and would come cheap." Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with emerged. conduct the inquiry." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these outside. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We is," said he presently: think you a quite exceptional woman." license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to to talk it over. that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most front of me. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your when your master had gone out." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' until night should bring an explanation. "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "Was she in good spirits?" to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before all?" his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which not personally threatened." "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, "What steps will you take?" I asked. "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been