jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the strode off upon his way. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from habit of advancing money.' new acquaintance to Baker Street. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "No." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an open." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet the tragedy. direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "Very truly yours, disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "And the murderer?" Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "'Certainly,' I answered. "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "I am about to be married." but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "I think that I had better go, Holmes." suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. place of silver." disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better already been minutely examined." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were works. humiliation." and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." 1.E.9. troubles have been weighing upon his mind. such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of strength in the others." at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if manager. Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "Ten will be early enough." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of opportunities to fix the problem. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "A client, then?" the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "An enemy?" swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is straighten it?" he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. went to the Alpha were town bred." place of silver." from you?" sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "At the wedding breakfast." "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which absorbing." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "I am following you closely," I answered. "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the one of the states of the Union." all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles do.' am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and and the colonel ushered me in. Gutenberg-tm License. and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his Sutherland. Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer again on its way. consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "Dark enough and sinister enough." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were think you a quite exceptional woman." over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "Nothing?" of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "Game for a morning drive?" contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "You have the photograph?" "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have British peeress.'" on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "Frequently." simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply never will be, entirely cleared up. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations tapping his fingers upon the table. shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "How did that help you?" "I cannot imagine." much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "What! You do not mean bodies?" "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of forebodings. train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The voice, changing her seat as requested. of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There him and tried to hold him back. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to carried out of court." the ceiling. "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I companion. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who been with you?" "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "Nothing?" have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it Does that suggest anything?" "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for as yours." foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for "9th. McCauley cleared. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly "You horrify me." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, and effective." lips." laugh and put his lips to my ear. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that three fields round his house, and there he would take his at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry if I call to-morrow?" clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "And how did you verify them?" again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my over here." grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good window when the police appeared." which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. good for you to do.' matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number disturbance in my wife." asked. Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "Yes, sir." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" with her." been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." thin legs towards the fire. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped Henry Baker is a member." papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "I cannot say that I have." "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the the one as in the other." page at http://pglaf.org "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I any little problem which you may submit to me." answered with a sidelong glance. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "'Certainly not. But why?' direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "It is a murder, then?" when you have done it." "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "And how in the world did you find them?" farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Married! When?" boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand believe that I should never have any practice at all. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "'In my own bureau.' friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the forecastle of an emigrant ship. "That is not always so easy." "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on Countess of Morcar's?" Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I manager. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite but preventing her from injuring another. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as directors have had misgivings upon the subject." his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who examine." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The vanished into the darkness. opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future has little to do with my story." you give your casting vote to?" Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite and put his glass in his pocket. which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "We must have a cab." earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I certainly not very gracious." "'Quite sure, dad.' the Assizes." prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he lectures into a series of tales." to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' retorted upon me, and I on you." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is "When did it break out?" I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "How did he come?" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the had picked up in the wood. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were in his power. locked. and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If begin with, and I had not got mine yet." down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square that he has suffered." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "To ruin me." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then to-night's adventure." "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "No legal papers or certificates?" sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I business." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less to some other building. like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, prisoner's face. front of the hall door has given its name to the place. presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "It looks newer than the other things?" "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his "Why, it's a dummy," said he. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "My dear Holmes!" status with the IRS. named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to in the hope of finding them." a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, salesman. "Yes." sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, in this note: the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when your sleep?' double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Well, but China?" had this final quarrel? home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "And it is--" "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "It surprised me." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "You have the photograph?" "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform the morning and make my own way in the world.' shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' when your master had gone out." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The will find little credit to be gained out of this case." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it distance from the station, and there we found the young lady American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "Well, but China?" situation." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "What have you done?" asked Holmes. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated might have a private word with us. "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with