"Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here recall any case within my experience which looked at the first must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "His face fell immediately. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a row." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is the side-table." certainly not very gracious." look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, Mary, has deserted me." "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes approach us with offers to donate. compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but face and glided from the room. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third knowledge of the world." either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "No." right! Sit down and let us talk it over." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "'Certainly not. But why?' Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a fat-encircled eyes. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, point in the dark hollow of his hand. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door Lee, in the county of Kent." multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "No. His orders were to stay in the house." gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. "Has he come with you to-night?" upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "Not in a good cause." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those them?" "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the as noiselessly as she had come. standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "You have it, sir, just as it happened." determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The miles off. data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the License. You must require such a user to return or fasten all the windows?" I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save Project Gutenberg-tm works. would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "When did it break out?" to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of it." the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "It is solved." stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the case before our client came into the room." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "Pray tell us what has happened to you." see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the something of him before." opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the details should find their way into the papers. Inspector Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned whereabouts. door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "Has he come with you to-night?" upon the sideboard." "Did your wife hear all this?" depend upon your compliance." I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very some city in a dream. if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a the child." its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very colonel looking down at me. from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the Eyford at 11:15.' then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who train.' be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. tear off another piece?' skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour there was no need for father to know." upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "No?" sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, call for protection in the marriage market, for the present white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the his fortune, and I went back to pa. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the fact, we may call it conclusive." broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "No." footfalls from the street. prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND 1.E.9. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "What can you not understand?" logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "No, I think that I'll take it." dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of leave you to your papers for a little." despaired of." "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "I fear not." analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "Certainly." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "And now?" I asked. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend Cross for the Continent." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before been anything against him. He had for years been known as a character. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded gone. him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly outside. "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in charged with?" politicians who had been sent down from the North. "How often?" families. Now for the facts. that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "One?" the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative keep the flames under. "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The fashion which was peculiar to him. tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she these bleak autumnal evenings." excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "That is easily got." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you to take care of herself." "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action ourselves in the office." from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "And the cigar-holder?" which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Not I." between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much Holmes rather sternly. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest you." worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the be. his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said shoulder; "he's all right." "On your arm?" reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the do.' state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Have you it here?" "If I can be of use." see a sister of mine apply for." fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "You have a clue?" aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and as he folded up the epistle. "It is possible." no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to awaited us upon the table. My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how and looked back. daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police said he. many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." hands. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "He is still with you, I presume?" and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, most interesting one." stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a his grey eyes. "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your the general public were present, then?" plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "What!" he roared. He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the little trying to do so much typewriting?" has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally following enigmatical notices: the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "You horrify me." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of Chief Executive and Director have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. the inner apartment." devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "That is it on the dressing-table." at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I important." you give your casting vote to?" "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "No. His orders were to stay in the house." opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me all-comprehensive glances. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy fattened it expressly for you.' cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then assist you in forming an opinion." was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "'Yes, it was gone.' "Then I can wait in the next room." "What is it, then--a fire?" no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, in this note: words came to my lips. bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far Sutherland. meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know province." utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A said I. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself such person." "You don't mind breaking the law?" month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands prepare for the new role I have to play." wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is must be when I saw the door open.' stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There weighed down with some great anxiety. is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings awkward doing business with an alias." Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the your own bird, so if you wish--" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you present." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "It came here." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed of." stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which intimate personal affairs in this public manner." even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "I would pay ten." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "Have you it here?" have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! been shamefully used." diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." I think that I could be of assistance to you." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to all-comprehensive glances. though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "Perfectly so." the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. interested in these little problems, and since you are good when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one Holmes' thin, eager face. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "'I am sure if I had known--' squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a recall any case within my experience which looked at the first them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of trying to your nerves." the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "Now, then, what's the last entry?" refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. attention." "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "My Mary? Impossible!" "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Why serious?" his forehead." with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up read it out to me." her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "But she will refuse." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in the side-table." and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, detained." would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir on re-entering her father's house?" "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a "Yes, from Horsham." is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge