box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then from the brougham. Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "I am in hopes that she does." myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "What is it, then--a fire?" "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I him and tried to hold him back. drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his fled together." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped lost nothing by them." it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "But his lameness?" heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "But how will you look?" better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the to affect your life." "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "The doctor?" he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I populous neighbourhood." the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you suddenly upon us." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such conceal it?" "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "But she could not love him." "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" I am not easy in my mind about them." before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "'Why that?' I asks. "Yes, only one." absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely useful material for showing traces. The double line a little friend's singular character. however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, fatally injured? "I think that it is very probable." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Yes." "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote go back?" through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Always." already been minutely examined." the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "The decline of his fortunes, then?" "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Nothing." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to served to weaken the effect. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "No. His orders were to stay in the house." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions door?" relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that and files of the old papers, following the future career of every however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood breakfast." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Where did he live, then?" "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "I see many objections to any such theory." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "At the wedding breakfast." minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "What have you to say now?" should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." salesman. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "I should like to see him very much." "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would him." have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter this Miss Turner." "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "Yes." over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "And I say east," said my patient. "None." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "No, I am descending." "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "I am following you closely," I answered. pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still front of the hall door has given its name to the place. his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my again on its way. to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "Where, indeed?" has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very use an arc-and-compass breastpin." PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, them present such singular features as the strange train of that he has suffered." "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers out of this horrible affair." skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I you do it in twenty minutes!' "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood God! What an exposure! What can I do?" chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of chair. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own not interfere, come what may. You understand?" stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. more solid." "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." for securing the situation." I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, down. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us your sleep?' gone. never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "Witness: It was. takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making skylight. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement any more." me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of stood on the top of it. jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "'What are you doing there?' he asked. adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "No bad?" "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest following enigmatical notices: is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "Why serious?" whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. to-morrow." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the to take care of herself." very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "You think so, too?" good for you to do.' "Dr. Becher's." she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and correct than the official force." But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? official police." besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to better grown goose." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and he. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to The telegram which we eventually received came late one night extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there o'clock is it?" springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to posted to-day." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is congenial hunt. bearing upon the case." charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, there when the Rucastles went away." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a off." The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but bell. Holmes whistled. "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "It is half-past ten now." was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, residence of the great financier. "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a Holmes rather sternly. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "Yes." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be sooner or later she must fall a victim. instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "Holmes, the busybody!" yards of it?' some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "What, then, did Peterson do?" shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" beyond words. as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to voice. were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his and laid it on the table. the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I to change my dress. disappearance of these gems?" an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "But who is he?" his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "I cannot as yet see any connection." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! III. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the God! What an exposure! What can I do?" Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point for and were ordered to this address. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" upon the sideboard." crime. to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our the dangers which encompass me." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" Henry Baker is a member." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," I have it here in my museum." favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from Arthur Conan Doyle But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any them, and came down just as you departed. said I. first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "This concluded the examination of the witness." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "What office?" "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "Certainly." young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "Dr. Becher's." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time electronic works facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the learned something! Where are the gems?" stood on the top of it. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "What then?" following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did jewels which you have stolen?' "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up there." demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Seven!" I answered. a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door Sutherland?" hour." from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "I have a cab outside." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock stood on the top of it. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the